Pokemon vs Digimon 01: The Experiment
by Seth Turtle
Summary: I get tired of all the constant arguing about which species is better, so I decide to try some experimenting of my own with the help of Mewtwo. However, this little science project will become the greatest threat ever to hit both worlds.
1. Prelude

Mewtwo sat quietly in his revolving chair, patiently waiting for the computer to alert him when his guest has arrived. After what seemed like forever, the computer's feminine voice hummed to life.  
  
/Seth Turtle has arrived at the island, and is making his way up the dock stairway./  
  
"Good."  
  
The massive doors opened to Mewtwo's lower chambers, and an older teenager wearing a long black coat, black shirt and pants, and a pair of black gloves entered. He wore a pair of thin, simple glasses, and wore a black baseball cap that was decorated with nothing but an X. The teen carried several little disks, each labeled with names that Mewtwo knew by heart. He and Seth had been working on this for a long time.  
  
Mewtwo floated to the ground silently, staring down at the shorter Seth. "So, you have ALL the disks?"  
  
Seth smiled and spread the disks out like a deck of cards. "Yes. All the digimon of the digi-destined are here. Do you have yours?"  
  
Mewtwo held up four disks of his own. "Yes. The pokemon belonging to Ash, Misty, Brock, and Tracy are all here."  
  
Seth lifted an eyebrow with suspicion. "Why did you only pick four children, when the digi-destined from both generations total eleven, and their power is on quite a higher level?"  
  
Mewtwo chuckled. "You don't know the strength inside their hearts. I've witnessed it first hand, and I know they can handle your challenge. Besides, your assumption that the pokemon rely solely on strength is why you believe digimon are stronger. Pokemon possess abilities that your digimon don't. Your digimon rely on others, while the pokemon's power comes from within."  
  
"Yeah. The digi-destined will have the advantage of strength, while the pokemon have higher skill in certain areas of combat that digimon lack by nature." Seth answered, walking past the giant pokemon to the computer console Mewtwo used. "I'm sure this will be an interesting experiment."  
  
"Indeed. We'll see for ourselves what both species can do...and how they rank against each other."  
  
"Right, so shall we begin? How do you want to go about this?"  
  
"We'll compare the digimon to the pokemon, and assign opponents based on similarities. The more similar they are, the better it will be for experiment purposes, because neither side will have as much of an advantage."  
  
Seth nodded. "I agree. I think the first pair should be Agumon and Charizard."  
  
Mewtwo smiled inwardly. "Ah yes, the obvious choice. Shall we include their human companions?"  
  
Seth thought for a moment. "It's not necessary, thanks to your equipment and my data, so we won't do it for this battle at least. Perhaps later."  
  
Mewtwo nodded. "Very well. Let us begin." Mewtwo walked over to a disk player and inserted the disk labeled "Ash" and loaded the file marked "Charizard", while Seth went to the other side and inserted the disk marked "Tai/Agumon".   
  
"Ready, Mewtwo?"   
  
"Ready." he answered. The two pressed the commands that would activate the disks, and thus target the desired opponents for the experiment. The computer system hummed to life, and the two walked out onto a balcony that looked over Mewtwo's personal gym on New Island II.  
  
Mewtwo lifted his hand and summoned forth his psychic power, calling up the geothermic energies beneath the sea, to fill up the gym pool with volcanic lava. Seth stared in awe at the display of power.  
  
"I guess one thing is for sure. You would rate Mega on the digimon scale. Mega-digimon possess awesome power and are considered nearly unbeatable by normal standards. Your control over the forces of nature is astounding."  
  
Mewtwo clenched his fist one final time, and the volcanic flow stopped. He looked down at Seth. "Pokemon have a wide variety, just like your digimon. It is no surprise to me that some digimon are my equal, if not my superior. Unlike them, however, my power has a much wider range than their one or two attacks." Mewtwo's statement was clarified when the computer voice spoke.  
  
/Targets acquired on inter-dimensional scanner. Power amplifier primed for use./  
  
Mewtwo focused his power, calling on his psychic abilities to teleport the two targets to his gym. Within seconds, Agumon and Charizard appeared below, each at the opposite side of the gym. Seth smiled and started taking notes while Mewtwo handled the two combatants.   
  
"What's going on here?! Where's Tai?!" yelled Agumon. Charizard roared in annoyance at Mewtwo, who looked down at them with a stone cold glare.   
  
"I am Mewtwo, and this is Seth Turtle." Seth waved high absently, intent on comparing the Digimon Analyzer with the Pokedex. "We are running an experiment involving digimon and pokemon, and we require your assistance. If you cooperate, you will leave unharmed, and with no memory of this occuring. If you choose to be difficult, then I will be forced to destroy you and your human companions. Do we have an understanding?"  
  
Agumon growled slightly, but chose to accept Mewtwo's proposition for the time being. Charizard lazily sat down, wondering why he had to fight a short little orange thing that looked like a Charmeleon poser. When neither of them objected, Mewtwo nodded. "Then let us begin. Agumon, we are aware of your digi-volving capabilities, but you will be limited in your digi-volving by Seth here. You will fight Charizard as best you can in your current state, then we will evolve you as we see fit. Do not hold back, and be assured that we will not let you two die, assuming you don't hold back."  
  
Agumon nodded. "Fine. Let's just get this over with." Charizard stood up, finally making up his mind that he would fight Agumon for the time being, until he got bored.  
  
Seth made a note. "Digimon and pokemon alike exhibit agressive tendencies at higher levels of evolution. We will most likely see Agumon become more agressive as he digi-volves."  
  
Mewtwo nodded. Mentally he signaled the start of the battle.  
  
Charizard launched into the air, quickly closing the gap between Agumon and him. Agumon answered the charge with a quick "Pepper breath!" to try and slow him down. Charizard barely felt the fire attack, being a fire pokemon, and answered with his own Flamethrower attack. The flames encircled Agumon, giving him a nice burn, but thankfully did only minor damage to the digimon's reptilian hide.  
  
"Looks like fire won't win the battle. Better think of something else." Agumon leaped over to the other side of the gym field, thinking what he could do. Charizard was inwardly chuckling at the pitiful creature, and he chose to stand and wait for Agumon's next attack. Agumon growled and charged at the lazy pokemon, clawing at Charizard with all his might. Charizard's equally tough reptilian hide was barely affected, and even made the red pokemon laugh as if he were being tickled. Agumon groaned and opened his jaws wide, sinking his teeth into Charizard's arm. The digimon's jaws managed to cut through, making Charizard shout in pain and annoyance. The giant pokemon slammed the dangling Agumon into the ground, creating a nice dent in the floor and making Agumon see stars.   
  
"Charizard isn't even trying. Begin the digi-volving process." Mewtwo said.   
  
Seth pressed the commands on his mini-computer, which activated a mini-satellite beneath them, but above the gym field. The satellite launched a reddish pulse at Agumon, empowering him with energy and triggering the digivolution.  
  
"Agumon, digi-volve to...Greymon!" The giant digimon stood nearly three Charizards high, which made Charizard smile. The pokemon was happy to have a challenge finally.  
  
"Nova blast!" shouted Greymon, launching a fiery ball of energy at Charizard, who was knocked over by the force of the blast, but damaged only minimally. Charizard growled in annoyance at being knocked down, and did a Tackle attack at Greymon, knocking the digimon back several steps. Charizard followed it up with several swipes at Greymon's unarmored underbelly, which provoked the digimon to kick Charizard away with enough force to stun the pokemon.  
  
"Seems Greymon has the advantage here." Seth said.  
  
"Just wait, young man. Charizard is 'just warming up'." Mewtwo answered.  
  
Charizard opened his eyes and quickly shook the cobwebs out. He got to his feet and stared icily at Greymon, who stomped forward as he prepared to smash the smaller pokemon.   
  
"Time to finish you off!" Greymon growled. He lifted his arm, but soon noticed fiery energy surrounding Charizard, followed by his eyes glowing bright red. "What the..." Greymon said.  
  
Mewtwo smiled. "Rage is one of the better pokemon abilities, wouldn't you say?". Seth smiled in anticipation as Charizard powered up. Greymon's fist came crashing down, slamming Charizard deep into the ground, and cracking the floor enough to send Charizard falling into the lava pit beneath them. The rest of the floor broke apart, and Greymon went tumbling down with him, landing in the hot lava at the same time. Greymon shook his head and stood up, quickly clawing his way out of the painful lava.   
  
"Hmm...seems digimon are less focused on elements than pokemon. Charizard is probably relatively fine in the lava compared to Greymon." Seth said.  
  
"Yes, but I doubt Greymon is as adversely affected by water as Charizard is." Mewtwo added. The two waited to see if Charizard was still alive, while Greymon roared in victory.  
  
"RAHHHRRR!!" Greymon roared, when suddenly Charizard flew like lightning out of the lava pit, ramming into Greymon with a powered-up Tackle attack. When Greymon slid backwards into the base of Mewtwo's tower and fell over, the enraged Charizard grabbed Greymon by the tail, and heaved with all his might. Greymon didn't move, but after another try Charizard actually managed to throw Greymon into the lava pit with enough force to stun him. The stunned digimon lay in the pit, slowly being scalded by the intense heat inside.  
  
Mewtwo chuckled. "Well, it seems Charizard actually managed to pull this off, but it's safe to say that the two are evenly matched."  
  
Seth nodded. "Charizard is very skilled, and his array of powers are quite useful in handling any number of enemies, whether it be a lot of small opponents, or one very large one, like Greymon here."  
  
"Shall we go for a match between Charizard and MetalGreymon?" Mewtwo stated.  
  
"Do you honestly believe that Charizard can win such a battle? If you do, than you're more insane than I thought."  
  
Mewtwo nodded. "We won't waste the time and energy to test it. Perhaps Moltres could present a suitable challenge to MetalGreymon, but that will be done another time, after the initial experiments."  
  
Seth punched some commmands on his mini-computer, and Mewtwo's gym pool drained away. Charizard roared with victory while Greymon stumbled to his feet, de-digivolving back to Agumon. Mewtwo materialized before them.  
  
"Well done. We were quite amazed at the fight, but we will have to continue this some other time. Greymon, you will most likely return at a later date, and Charizard may as well. But for now, take solace in the fact that you won't remember a thing." Mewtwo lifted his hand, and a flash of light blinded the two similar creatures. Each had a blank look on their face as Mewtwo teleported them back to their original locations. He rematerialized on the balcony with Seth, who was busily programming the computer for the next targets.  
  
"Well, that makes it even still. Charizard can defeat Agumon and Greymon, but MetalGreymon and WarGreymon are the stronger ones. If this goes the same for the others, then we may have wasted our time."  
  
Mewtwo folded his arms. "I doubt the others will be as even. These two were very powerful, but the others aren't as lucky. Have you decided who is next out of your list?"  
  
"Yes. Our next test will be Gabumon's four forms versus..." Seth answered, trailing off for Mewtwo.  
  
Mewtwo thought for a moment. "I'll choose Pikachu. Another pair of opponents with a lot of power."  
  
Seth looked at Pikachu's picture and laughed. "You must be kidding right? How can this thing be strong enough to take on Gabumon?"  
  
Mewtwo chuckled as well. "You underestimate him. This pikachu is...different."  
  
Seth smiled. "I'll have to see to believe. Nothing that small can pack a wallop."  
  
"Tell that to the countless opponents he's crushed." Mewtwo replied.  
  



	2. Lost Heart

Mewtwo paced silently back and forth in his massive laboratory, wondering what was taking Seth so long. It had been three days since they last spoke, and Mewtwo was ready to continue the experiment. The pokémon growled in annoyance and activated his computer telepathically.

"Computer. Locate Seth Turtle."

/Seth Turtle is in the library, where he has been for the last 20 hours./

Twenty hours? What is he doing in there? Mewtwo thought. The pokémon floated down the passageways that made up New Island II, until finally he came upon the library. Mewtwo pushed the door to open it, but found it to be locked. Not used to being barred from his own property, Mewtwo psychically rammed the door, making it explode with dust and wood splinters. 

Seth looked up from the poorly lit library desk briefly, and then returned to the notes he had in front of him. Mewtwo walked in with an angry expression on his face. Even though Seth wasn't a telepath, he knew what Mewtwo was thinking at that moment. He was wondering why Seth would be in a library for a day, when a computer was faster, and when there was work to be done.

"What is it?" Seth said bluntly, which only added to Mewtwo's anger. The pokémon's eyes started to glow an eerie blue as his powers responded to his anger.

"'What is it?'. You sit here and waste precious time pouring over old lab manuals, without giving a reason, and all you have to say is 'What is it?'."

Seth tossed the notes he was looking at towards Mewtwo, who caught them with his three-fingered hand. Looking at them, he saw several names that meant nothing to him, but could see many of them labeled "reviews".

"That is some of the responses I've been getting from my superiors on our little experiment. As you can see, much of the information seems useful, but several of them didn't care about science. Most of them are set in their ways, and would rather see the two species beat the shit out of each other."

Mewtwo dropped the notes onto the table and slid them back to Seth, who caught them. "They will see in time that both species are equal, just as we think. Each has their own flaws and merits, but one is not better than the other. That's like saying that black people are better than white, because their more interesting to watch in basketball."

Seth stood up, and Mewtwo could clearly see him for the first time in this encounter. Seth looked like he hadn't slept in days, and he held a distinct hint of...something that Mewtwo had to call insanity. Seth looked like he was out of it. Mewtwo wondered if the mental competency of his partner had finally slipped away.

"True, but none the less they won't believe in what you or I say. The only way humans define who is better is by which one is more popular, and which one is able to beat up the other. High school life on a global level. Scientific research isn't paid attention to in my timeline unless it has something to do with fighting or changing the way you look and feel." Seth strolled to the other side of the room and picked up a book that had been haphazardly thrown around, apparently by Seth himself. Holding up the book for Mewtwo to see, he continued.

"You recognize this, don't you?"

Mewtwo nodded. "It is a copy of the letters and grants bestowed by Giovanni to the scientists that created me."

"Exactly. Giovanni brought you into existence. And you know why that is, don't you! Because he wanted something bigger, better, and lethal! These scientists did it for glory and money, as well as power."

"They were afraid. Giovanni is not somebody you can just say no to. They had no other choice. If they wished to continue their research on Mew, then they had to construct me." Mewtwo answered.

"Hah! A likely story. Inside their hearts, they may have repeated that over and over, but I know how people think. I'm a human, so I should know! They were thinking about how famous they would become when they completed you! They didn't care about your psychological merits and personality. They wanted you to tear other pokémon apart!"

Mewtwo's mind drifted back to his first awakening, when he saw the scientists outside of his tube...

****

A quick flash of memories, and a shot of anger, broke the glass around him. He looked up to see a man approaching him, asking him how he felt. Mewtwo, confused and lost, asked where he was.

"You're in Giovanni's lab. We have created you, Mewtwo!". 

"Mew...two?" the newborn pokémon said to himself, looking down at his hands. They were much different than what he remembered. Long ago, he was smaller...and light as air. Now he was gigantic...and uglier. And alone.

"They...care nothing for me. They only care about their pride. I won't let them treat me as just another specimen..." Mewtwo said inside his heart.

****

Seth saw Mewtwo's eyes close, and the pokémon sighed painfully. Looking at Seth, Mewtwo answered, "They are human, yes. I know they meant well, and that they had forgotten that I was a living being too. I destroyed them for it, which was wrong of me too. I had forgotten that humans were living beings too. An eye for an eye. That was then, this is now. You and I both know that all people don't think like that."

"What does it matter if all of them don't think that or not? It's reality. The strong rule over the weak, so the only measure of who's better in the world is who is strongest. That is the only way I can get them to understand."

"You're not serious, Seth. You're exhausted. Go to bed, and I'll do today's experiment alone. You will think much clearer after a good night's sleep."

"I've never thought this clearly!" Seth retaliated. "In fact, I think I know just how to do our little experiment. Rather than one on one, why not two on two? Or more? How about...yes, that's it!" Seth leaped onto the table like an animal, crouching and cocking his head as he envisioned the next experiment. "We can open a gateway between the worlds with my technology, and trigger a world war! Pokémon versus Digimon, with millions of little mice to test out theories, all at once! That will entertain and teach my superiors, and we can succeed where others have failed!"

"That's not the way to do this, Seth. Scientific study is not an excuse to kill every living thing in two worlds. Besides, you said so yourself. Fighting will not teach anyone anything."

"But it is the only thing that we humans listen to!" Seth yelled.

"You're wrong!" Mewtwo yelled back, in his mind. 

Seth growled, and grabbed the notes he had been reading. "You'll see, Mewtwo. I'll show you just what I'm talking about. Once I upload my Chrono Gates, I'll link the worlds and continue the experiment. With, or without you!" Seth punched a button on his wristwatch Chronoporter, and disappeared from the library before Mewtwo could stop him.

"Damn!" Mewtwo swore. Flying back to his main lab, Mewtwo activated the computer with a mental nod. "Computer, locate Seth Turtle!"

/Seth Turtle...does not exist./

Mewtwo growled. "He must have retreated to his timeline. I can't let him destroy our experiment, not when we've only just begun." Activating his computer with a thought, holographic images of the digi-destined appeared in the center of the room, along with Ash, Misty, and Brock.

"I must find them...before Seth makes a mistake that we'll all be sorry for."

****

Seth silently punched in the commands on his biocomputer, and warmed up the geothermic power source it runned off of. Opening the files contained within his disks, Seth activated the chronotargeting systems.

"...that should do it." he said, confirming the location of the gate. "Now, to activate the gate, and set it on autopilot. Once the gate is open, the two worlds will be linked, and the fighting will begin..."

****

Ash slept quietly underneath the snow-covered tree, snoring away along with Pikachu. Brock and Misty sat at the giant, warm campfire, munching on some rolls they had bought in the last town with the last of their money. With those two snoring, the other two decided it was better to eat some late dinner and enjoy the winter scenery rather than waste their time trying to sleep when it was obvious they wouldn't be able to.

Ash's snoring stopped momentarily, and the two hoped he was waking up. Instead, he turned over in his sleeping bag and continued to snore. Misty and Brock groaned and started to chat.

"He's louder when he sleeps than he is the rest of the day." Misty said with exasperation. "How are we going to get any sleep with him going off like that?"

"You could try ear plugs." Brock suggested.

"Where am I going to get some ear plugs genius?" Misty countered. 

Brock thought for a moment, and pulled out some earmuffs. "These oughta work." he said.

Misty laughed and pulled out her earmuffs from her bag. Putting them on, she waited for a moment and shook her head. "Nope. Still can here that mouth." she said, looking at the sleeping Ash.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, which made the two kids scream. Ash snapped to attention, yelling "Hey, quit snoring Misty!", but soon he started to scream too when he realized the whole ground was shaking. "What's going on?!" shouted Ash.

"Pi pikachu!" yelled Pikachu in agreement. 

"I don't know!" shouted Brock. "It feels like an earthquake!" 

"There aren't supposed to be earthquakes around here!" Misty yelled. Her eyes drifted up to the sky, and she pointed at something in the night. "Wha-wha-what's that?!"

All of them looked up to see a swirling mass of clouds that looked like a whirlpool in the air. Soon, the clouds started to fill up with varying shades of blue that illuminated the pitch black sky. A loud, massive noise permeated the air, deafening all present and making the earth rumble.

****

"Ha ha! I've got you now Izzy!" yelled Tai, punching the buttons on the controller for all he was worth. Izzy growled and tried to come back, but Tai was too fast and skillful. Tai punched the buttons and shouted a victory yell as his player did a slam dunk on the TV screen. The buzzer in the video game sounded, and the score blew up on the screen, showing the "Kamiya Bulls" beating the "Koushiro Magics" 99 to 98. Tai jumped up and did a victory dance, and Izzy fell back on the couch in defeat. Kari, Sora, Mimi and Yolei came in around the time that Tai started to do the Tootsie roll, and the two girls giggled at the sight of the junior high schooler busting a move. Tai noticed they were there and instantly stopped his victory dance, which made Izzy start laughing. 

"So you girls are finally ready to go?" Tai asked, trying to change the subject. 

"I take it you two have finished your grueling game?" Kari said jokingly. 

"It was for the December 20th Championship of Odaiba!" Tai answered as Izzy turned off the game and TV. "For a while it looked like Izzy would beat me, but Michael Jordan and I made an amazing comeback!" cheered Tai. 

"Wait until next time! You won't be so lucky!" Izzy challenged, smiling when the others started to laugh.

"So are you guys ready to go? The others are waiting downstairs at the garage." Sora said, getting her jacket from the stand next to the door.

"Yeah, let me just get my wallet." Tai said, going to the hallway in back to his room.

"Which you should have done while we were getting ready, instead of playing that stupid game." Mimi said, buttoning up her coat.

"And then we can go off to see 'The Phantom Menace!', and watch cute little Anakin." said Yolei, dancing around. 

"Well, I can't share your enthusiasm for Anakin Skywalker, but I am excited to see this finally." Izzy said as he put on his jacket. "Although it isn't the first showing, it still was really tough to get the tickets to this."

"Yeah, yeah. We're all impressed by your amazing network of computer friends who helped you get the tickets for tonight." Yolei joked. 

"But really, thank you for the present Izzy. It's the best Christmas gift we've had in a while." Sora said.

Tai came back out with his jacket and money, saying "What about my gift from last year? That was the best gift ever!" 

"I don't think a soccer ball autographed by yourself would constitute the best gift ever." Sora said on the way out. 

Everyone laughed, and Tai put on a face as if he were really hurt by the remark. "Someday you'll show that ball to your girlfriends and they'll say 'Oh my god, you know Tai Kamiya?! WOW, you're so lucky!'."

The kids went down the elevator shaft, chatting all the while about who was going to sit where in the theater, when suddenly the elevator started to shake. The ground rumbled, making the building shake with it, though luckily the earthquake wasn't too close, or the elevator would have stopped automatically.

"Earthquake!" they heard Davis shout from down below. The elevator reached the bottom floor, and the kids ran over to where Davis, Cody, TK, Joe, and Matt were hanging out. 

Over the noise of the earthquake, Tai yelled "Hey Matt! Whazzup?!"

Matt put his hands together to make a megaphone over his mouth. "It's an earthquake! Probably not even a 3-pointer, but Davis is freaking out."

Davis shoved Matt playfully, and both Matt and TK shoved him back. "Just because I live in Japan doesn't mean I have to like earthquakes!" the boy yelled.

"You'd think you'd get used to them after three years." Joe said, steadying himself with a nearby jeep.

"Hey guys, look at that!" Cody "shouted". Everyone looked at what he was pointing at, and gasped.

"Th-that looks familiar, eh guys?" Tai stuttered. The original digi-destined nodded, and the younger ones looked at them with confusion.

"What are you talking about? You mean you saw this thing before?!" Davis asked, losing his footing and falling to one knee.

"It's a tear in the fabric of space and time." Izzy said. "A dimensional rift to another space-time continuum."

"He means a wormhole." Joe added, which brought understanding to the younger digi-destined. 

"Where does it go?" said Yolei above the roar of the wormhole in the sky.

"The only way to find out is to go in it, but I don't suggest doing that until we think about our next step." Izzy yelled.

"Well, there goes our movie date." Kari said as they all ran into the street to get a clearer view.

"D-date?!" Davis stuttered, until finally he followed the others.

****

Ash ran up the rocky path as fast as his legs could carry him. He was quickly followed by Pikachu, who was quickly followed by Misty, who was quickly followed by Brock. The four dashed to the top of the mountain and looked at the full view of the wormhole. The massive blue pool of light in the sky swirled, making it easily visible to just about the entire eastern hemisphere.

"It looks like God flushed the toilet!" Ash yelled.

"Not funny!" Misty yelled back.

"Forget it! What'll we do about it?!" Brock shouted.

"What CAN we do about it?! We can't just go and turn it off!" Ash replied.

"What could be making it?!" yelled Misty.

****

Mewtwo looked up at the swirling portal, and hung his head. 

"Damn it Seth. You're going to kill everyone, just for your little science project. Don't you have any morality left in that thick skull of yours?" Mewtwo turned to the computer and focused on the Chronoporting device that Seth had installed in the system. "Computer, acquire targets and match coordinates."

/Scanning...targets acquired. Teleportation ready./

Mewtwo focused his power, and called on the energies within to activate his teleportation power. 

"If you won't listen to reason, Seth, then I'll have to show you the error that I made... and I'll put you back in your place."


	3. Soldiers

(In an excavation site, somewhere on the world of Pokemon

(In an excavation site, somewhere on the world of Pokemon...)

Eve cautiously placed the stethoscope next to the body of the sleeping creature, being careful not to disturb it. Even though it had been asleep for several months now, it was still a precaution she was willing to take. The thought of the gigantic Gengar reawakening like it did during the initial excavation of Pokemonopolis was enough to make her want to bury the whole thing and leave. But the urge to study such a magnificent being from an ancient civilization was too much to control, especially for such a curious doctor such as her.

"How's the patient, Eve?" said a young man that worked on Eve's archaeological team. The young woman turned and smiled as she stepped down the ladder that was propped next to the humogous Alakazam.

"It's in such a deep sleep that I don't think an atomic bomb could wake it up." she joked. Jumping off the last step of the ladder, Eve packed her tools into her bag and returned to the camp with the young miner.

"So what do you think they'll do with the big guys?" he said, referring to the nearby Gengar and his equally massive opponent Alakazam.

Eve sighed. "The other members of the board want to try and relocate them to a secure location for careful study and eventually find a place where the two can roam free without endangering the rest of the world. But since the pokeballs explode whenever we try to use them on these two, they'll have to try cranes and helicopters."

"A helicopter to move those guys?! That'll cost a fortune!" 

"Exactly. So until we can find funding for such a massive operation, the two will have to stay here."

"Well...at least they're asleep. As long as they stay that way, I can live with them."

Eve chuckled. "Me too."

****

A quick flash of light, and Seth appeared on a nearby tree limb, dressed in his standard black garb and trenchcoat. Looking down at the camp, Seth smiled when he saw the two partially-covered pokemon that were found in Pokemonopolis. 

"So...these are the strongest this world has to offer? Judging by their size, I'd say that they may even be stronger than the Mega Digimon." Seth sighed. "Well, at least I'll find out soon enough." Seth grabbed one of the black pokeballs that Mewtwo had constructed so long ago, but kept stored away in his laboratory for special needs. Smiling, Seth chucked the ball at the sleeping Gengar. "Pokeball, Go!"

The ball sailed through the air, but started to shake halfway there. Seth clenched his fists, as if doing so would help keep the ball intact. 

"Come on...come on..." Seth repeated. The pokeball hit the sleeping pokemon, which dematerialized and entered the device. The ball closed, and began to shake as it secured the lock on it. 

"Wow...even though it is asleep, it can still resist capture. Impressive. These guys are strong..." Seth said. When the ball finally stopped moving and hummed as the lock was secured, he added, "...But not strong enough." With the lock secured, the ball flew back to his hand, and was returned to his belt. 

"Now, for the other one." he said. However, halfway there, a young woman ran up to him and started to yell at him.

"Hey! What are you doing! How'd you do that! Wait a second!"

Seth groaned, not wanting to waste time trying to talk to her. "Get out of the way please. I have to do this. It's for an important cause." Seth tried to continue on pass her, but she stepped into his way again. Seth growled, "Get out of my way!", gave her a light shove and continued on his way.

Eve shouted to the people in the camp, "Stop him! He's got Gengar!"

"What?! Get him!" shouted the man Eve talked to earlier. Half a dozen other men ran with him to where Seth stood. 

Seth held up the black pokeball he had just used to capture Gengar, and shouted to the approaching men. "Don't make me use this! I didn't want to hurt any of you, but if you try to stop me, I'll have to defend myself."

The men stopped, except for Eve's friend, who stepped up to Seth and held out his hand. "Hand me the ball son. You don't wanna cause any trouble, do you? You'll already be famous for capturing that thing, when everyone else has failed."

"He's right." Eve said, stepping closer as well. "You'll be on every TV station, and become the most famous Pokemon master in the world, for capturing the most powerful Pokemon alive."

Seth pressed a button on his wristwatch, and he floated into the air. The people gasped in awe, and Seth added in a silent voice. "I don't want to be some 'master' of Pokemon. And besides, I'll already be famous for solving the big mystery of which is better. So I suggest you get your asses to where the portal opened, and wait for the big event." Seth said, pointing to the easily visible portal high in the air. Before they could say anything in response, Seth pushed another button on his wristwatch, and disappeared in a flash of blue light of the same color as the portal.

"...the big event? What could he mean?" Eve muttered to herself.

****

The digidestined ran to where the other people were gathering - the streets outside the TV station tower where the original team had battled Myotismon several years ago. This made the others wonder if this new portal had something to do with the Digital World, but whether it did or not could not be answered yet.

"Look at that thing! It's gigantic!" Tai said in wonder. 

"It must have a diameter of several miles!" Izzy chimed in.

"What could be making it?!" Mimi asked.

"I don't know, but we'd better get in touch with the digimon before something bad happens." Tai replied.

Cody pulled out his D3. "I've got it. I'll send an e-mail to all the digimon. What should I say?"

"Tell them about the portal, and find out if they can see it from where they are." Tai said. 

Cody complied, and was met with a reply from each digimon in about a minute. "They can't see it."

"They can't?! Then that means..."

"...That this portal doesn't go to the Digital World." Joe finished.

"Where else could it go?" Yolei asked.

Suddenly, blue balls of light shot out from the portal from miles up. People screamed and pointed it out to those who hadn't seen it yet, while news cameras panned to get a good view of the fast moving "meteors" that zoomed across the sky faster than a jet plane. 

"What are those things?! They're all over the place!" Davis said. "One..two.."

"There are eleven." Kari said, being a faster counter (and smarter student) than Davis. 

As sudden as they appeared, the flashes of light zoomed to the earth, colliding with the ground where the digidestined stood. Each responded in their own way, with some diving onto those they felt a need to protect, while all of them screamed as they thought they were going to die. 

"Wha....what's going on?!" TK yelled, feeling himself floating through the air at high speed. Nearby he could see the others being flund upwards with him. All of them screamed as they saw that they were zooming straight into the blue light that made up the massive portal in the sky. As they zipped through the blue light, they felt some slight resistance, as if they had dived into a pool of water, but didn't get wet. The trip through the blue portal ended as quickly as it started, with them landing with a THUD on a hard marble surface.

Groans could be heard from the pile of kids that had accumulated. The digidestined carefully stood up and untangled themselves, while those on the bottom of the pile (Matt, Davis, and Sora) gasped for air. They were helped onto their feet, and the group took in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" Sora asked, walking to a nearby picture of a stone carving with a little cat depicted on it. 

"I don't know, but I don't think this is good." Tai responded. "Can you guys reach the digimon still?"

"That won't be necessary."

"Who said that?" Matt asked, turning left and right to try and identify the speaker.

From high above the floor, a single humanoid descended slowly, without any apparent means of flight. The creature had a long, purple tail, and was shaped like a cross between a man and a cat. The purple being had glowing blue eyes, which sent chills of fear through the spines of the younger digidestined. 

"I'd move if I were you." the creature said into the minds of the children, much to their shock.

"Oh yeah! What if we don't?!" shouted Davis.

A quick flash of blue light appeared above the kids, and most of the digi-destined managed to dive out of the way of the falling kids that followed. THUD! Another group of children appeared from nowhere, landing on the gathered digi-destined (TK, Mimi, Yolei, and Davis). The kids all fell under the weight of the four arrivals (well, the three kids and their practically weightless yellow mouse), clumping into one large pile yet again. 

"That's why." Mewtwo answered, landing lightly before the gathering of children. 

"Ooh...I hate this place." whined Yolei.

"Somebody's hand is somewhere it shouldn't be." Mimi said.

"Uh...I think it's me." TK said from the bottom of the pile. "I'd move it...but something with red hair is smothering me."

"Hey! That 'thing' has a name you know!" Misty barked, standing up as quickly as possible. 

"Heh heh. Good job T.A!" Davis joked. 

"You're one to talk. At least he knows your name, and your hand's where it shouldn't be either!" Yolei said, smacking Davis with the back of her hand after removing his palm from her chest.

Ash dusted himself off as he stood. "Sorry about that, but we didn't really have much of a choice on where we landed."

"No problem." TK said when he finally could stand. Looking at the three kids, he realized he didn't recognize them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ash. This is Misty. That's Brock." Ash said simply. 

"Hello everyone." Misty said.

Brock nodded to them, then caught a good glimpse of Mimi, and suddenly went googly-eyed. Dashing at her, he quickly grabbed her hand and shook it wildly. "Hi-my-name's-Brock-and-I-think-you're-the-most-beautiful-woman-I've-ever-seen-in-my-whole-life!" 

Mimi wasn't sure how to answer that, but gave him a smile and said, "Eh heh heh...Thank you very much, er...Brock. I'm flattered." 

"Alright Romeo, let's go." Misty said, dragging Brock by the ear to their place behind Ash a few feet away. Brock pleaded for Misty to let go, but soon she had him under control and back where he belonged. 

Pointing down to his little companion, Ash finished the introduction. "That's Pikachu."

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu said, waving. Kari, Yolei, Sora and Mimi instantly went wide-eyed, screamed and practically dived at Pikachu, sweeping the little guy into their arms.

"Oh my god!, he's soooo cute!!" Yolei shouted. They played with Pikachu's little face, and went so far as to tickle him a little just to see him smile and giggle, which practically melted their hearts. The guys from the digi-destined just stared in utter amazement at the attention Pikachu got from them.

"You've got to be kidding me." Davis said, watching them with a sickened expression. "What's so cute about a little yellow rat?"

Ash groaned. "Don't ask me. I'm just his chauffer."

Mewtwo impatiently folded his arms. Speaking into their minds, the pokemon spoke. "Are you finished?"

All of the kids looked at the frightening creature, not sure what or who he was. Ash managed to speak first. "Who are you?"

Mewtwo smiled inwardly, wondering just how this would play out compared to their last encounter, of which Ash and his friends had no memory of thanks to his psychic powers. "I am called Mewtwo. I have summoned you to my island because I have need of your skills. All of you." The kids looked at each other with suspicion, but decided to not say anything yet. 

"What do want with us?" Tai asked.

"...It's difficult to explain, but I will try to keep it simple." Mewtwo said, lifting an arm towards his massive computer system. Activating it with a thought, a holographic image of the original digi-destined kids appeared, in which they were battling Piedmon. On another part of the floor, a holographic projection of Ash and his friends 'battling' the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapados, and Moltres appeared.

"Several weeks ago, a seventeen-year-old boy by the name of Seth Turtle somehow entered my island without triggering any alarms, or activating my psychic senses. Rather than try to fight me, he offered me a proposition. "Help him find out which is the superior species. Pokemon or Digimon.". He believed that with his technology and limited knowledge of the two worlds, coupled with my powers and my natural intelligence, we could solve the mystery. Although you don't know about the other species, you all will learn soon enough about each other. As you can see, they share quite a bit in terms of general appearance and use as it pertains to humans." The kids looked at the holograms, carefully examining the creatures in each. Mewtwo activated the second hologram with a thought. The new display showed the battle between Agumon and Charizard.

"Agumon?!" Tai shouted. 

"Charizard?!" Ash shouted.

"What did you do to him?!"

"Yeah!" Ash said. "What did you do with them?!"

Mewtwo smiled at the similarities they shared, although none of them could tell he was smiling. "Do not worry. They are unharmed, and don't have any recollection of these events."

"How is that possible?" Izzy asked, obviously overwhelmed at the technology this mysterious being commanded, and aching to look at them in more detail.

"Well, 'Izzy'..." Mewtwo said, eyeing him as they realized that this guy knew their names without them mentioning them. "...as you can tell from my manner of speaking, I possess psychic powers that allow me to do lots of things. Anything from telekinetically manipulating my surroundings to mentally erasing days of memory from dozens of minds is possible for me."

"Whoa..." Davis said in awe.

"Wait a minute, if you have all this power, why do you need our help? And you still haven't answered why you need us!" Yolei said.

"If you'll stop pestering me with these questions, I can finish." Mewtwo said, raising his voice. When the girl cringed, Mewtwo's head sagged and he calmed himself. "...I appologize young lady. Forgive me, but time is against us." Yolei nodded slowly, but the fear in her eyes didn't leave. Mewtwo slowly walked to the hologram projection and switched it to the next display...a picture of the massive blue portal that appeared in both worlds.

"That's the portal in the sky!" Misty said.

"Tha!...what she said." TK said. Misty smiled and TK laughed a little, while Mewtwo nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, this is in both your worlds." 

"Both? You mean we don't come from the same world?" Sora asked.

"Precisely. The world we are on at the moment is a world co-populated by a species called Pokemon...like myself and your little Pikachu there." Mewtwo said, pointing at the yellow mouse.

"You're a Pokemon?" Ash asked. Mewtwo nodded again, and returned to his explanation. 

"I won't show up on your PokeDex there Ash Ketchum, because I'm the only one of my kind as far as I know." A sad expression crossed his eyes, and a pang of sympathy shot through Sora (being the child of the Crest of Love, she understood his lonliness...). "Anyway, the world that you 'digi-destined' hail from doesn't have these creatures, due to your timeline taking a different path in the evolution of your planet."

"Then I guess Digimon don't exist on our world?" Brock added, thinking he may be understanding this.

"Yes, that is correct. Digimon exist because of extra databytes created by the Internet on their world. Whereas our world possesses an 'Internet' for communications and pokeball transfer, we don't have a computer-based web like theres, and thus cannot support the necessary conditions for their Digimon and their Digital World to exist."

"Okay. So we have two different worlds." Matt said bluntly. "Why are they connected by this big blue wormhole? And what do you and this Seth guy have to do with it, since you took Agumon?"

"Seth and I originally thought it would be best to try and test the two species out in combat, so Seth provided technology that allowed my computer to target beings in your world as well as mine, thanks to previously arranged satellites that Seth had access to. I know for a fact that they were put there by Seth's "superiors" as a way to monitor both worlds for their own purposes. We simply used them to target the chosen test subject, and then I would use my psychic powers to teleport them onto my island."

Mewtwo deactivated the holographic projector and continued. "We then used my technology to provide battle conditions and Seth's Evolution technology to give the appropriate energy needed for your digimon to digivolve." he said, looking at Tai. "We tested his power at the Rookie and Champion levels, but he fell to Charizard. However, testing him at Ultimate and Mega would be overkill." Tai nodded slowly, wondering at the kind of power these Pokemon held if one of them could stand up to Greymon.

"We were going to continue with the rest of your digimon, and the other Pokemon that Ash, Misty and Brock use, but there was a problem. Seth started to wonder if his masters were willing to accept such data. Battling is conclusive evidence for some people, but to Seth and I, it was merely a show of strength. True superiority comes from the heart and the mind. The one who cares more for his brother...who fights for them. They are the superior species. So we thought that a test of psychological merits and mental prowess would be a better way to prove the superiority of one species over another. We hoped to show that both species are equal, and as similar and different as the human species is itself. That way the ongoing war between Anti-Pokemon and Anti-Digimon would stop."

"How would they know about them? If Pokemon and Digimon don't exist on the same world, then how do Seth and his...his 'masters', know about them?" Kari asked.

"Seth belongs to a world of humans where technology permits them to look into other worlds and gather data from them. Seth tried to hide these thoughts from me, but I was able to uncover that hundreds of worlds have been examined and entered in this way. Worlds where aliens fought for magical balls to summon an 'Eternal Dragon'...worlds where giant robot machines battled in an ongoing war. All these worlds were studied and entered by Seth's kind."

"So they're fighting over whose better...and they don't even live in these worlds?" Cody asked.

"Exactly. I suppose if you put it that way, Seth and his kind are somewhat like 'gods'. Their technology lets them step in and out of our dimension with the touch of a button, and they can even take others with them if they wished. They possess the necessary knowledge to do this on a global scale if they wished as well."

"Hence, the giant blue portal in the sky." Izzy said. "That's Seth's idea?"

Mewtwo nodded. "And that's why I must stop him. He's become convinced that his masters will accept nothing but an all-out brawl between both worlds, because he thinks that nobody will accept his idea of the equality of Digimons and Pokemons. When I tried to help him, he lashed out and left for his own laboratory, where I cannot follow without a device like his."

"Poor guy..." Yolei said.

"Yeah, poor guy with his finger on the button for Armageddon!" Davis said. "If we don't stop him, then both our worlds will be toast."

"So that's what you want us for? To stop this guy Seth?" Ash asked. 

"Yes. I wouldn't want to endanger you all, but if I try to fight him on my own, I will lose. Seth knows that I cannot be in two places at once, and he will fight with the most powerful members of both species. Thanks to his Chrono and Evolution technology, Seth can find even the most well hidden creatures if he has a sample of their DNA, and he can manipulate their evolutionary stage to make them easier to control."

"So that means this guy will have an army of loyal Pokemon...and Digimon, that have the power of their maximum evolution stage?" Brock asked.

"An army of Mega-Digimon? No thanks, I had that fun with the Dark Masters. I don't need to go through that again." Joe said.

"Joe!" Tai yelled. "Don't back down before we even start! If Mewtwo needs our help, then let's help!"

"Yeah! I'm ready to teach this Seth a lesson!" Ash yelled, caught up in the fervor.

"Me too!" Davis agreed. Ash and Davis smiled and high-fived each other. 

Misty groaned and whacked them both in the back of the head. "Both of you chill out!" Misty shouted. Davis and Ash cringed and shut up. Kari giggled, and Misty smiled in embarassment. 

"Whoa, your girlfriend is a real - AHH!!" Davis shouted as TK tugged on his collar and pulled him away before he said something he'd regret later.

Mewtwo sighed in annoyance. "Okay. For the time being, you will all have to remain together, so that I can outfit you with some special equipment that you will need if you're willing to help me."

"What about our digimon?" Joe asked. "We can't do much against an army of monsters without them."

"Don't worry Joe. I will transport them there soon. For now, I insist you all take the time to get to know each other." Mewtwo said, floating over to the computer terminal to target the teleporter.

For a little while, nobody knew what to say. 

"Man, this is crazy!" Davis said. "Other worlds, alien monsters, and some guy with Chrome-o technology..."

"He's not a car mechanic, Davis." Kari said. "It's 'Chrono'. It means time."

"Whatever he is, I won't let him hurt any Pokemon. Or Digimon." Ash said. 

"Heh heh. You're all right Ash." Tai said, holding out his hand. Ash hesitantly shook it, and soon Ash was shaking hands with Davis and Matt as well. 

TK and Davis came over and shook hands as well, after a quick and formal introduction. 

"So are you guys Digimon trainers?" Ash asked. 

"Um...heh heh, I wouldn't call us 'trainers'. We help our digimon whenever we can, but they seem to already know how to fight. We give them back-up." Tai said.

"And we help them digi-volve, so they can kick some serious bad-guy butt!" Davis said.

"Digi-volve? Is that anything like a pokemon evolving?"

"I don't know, what is a pokemon like when it evolves?" TK asked.

"When they get enough skill, they grow and become stronger and tougher." Ash answered.

"Yeah, digi-volving is kinda like that." Matt said. "But it doesn't go by skill. With our digi-vices, crests, and digi-eggs, we help them become stronger when they fight."

"When they fight? Don't they stay strong after they 'digi-volve'?" Ash said.

"Uh...no. Why, do pokemon stay strong when they 'evolve'?" Davis asked.

"Well, yeah. Once they evolve, they don't go back. They become a new pokemon, physically and mentally...sort of. When my Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, and then Charizard, he got meaner and meaner, and eventually he stopped listening to me."

"Whoa! That must have stunk!" Davis said, obviously intrigued. "What'd you do?"

"Eventually I regained Charizard's trust, and we became pals again...well, at least he doesn't burn me anymore."

"Your pokemon burn you?" Tai asked. "And you're still alive?"

Ash smiled and struck a manly pose. "Well, I am a real tough guy."

Misty rolled her eyes and left the group of boys to go talk with some people more at her level of intelligence. Misty walked over to Sora, Mimi, Kari and Yolei, who were still playing with Pikachu. "I forgot to introduce you to someone, girls." Misty said, removing her backpack from her shoulder. Pulling out what looked like a large, white egg doll, they were astonished to see a little face pop up. It squinted and yawned like a little, helpless baby, which melted the hearts of the other three.

"Awww......" Mimi said. Carefully taking the little one, Mimi slowly swung him back and forth, trying to help it go back to sleep. Slowly, the little pokemon drifted back to dreamland, but Mimi didn't stop cradling him.

"What's its name?" Sora asked, softly touching the back of the little pokemon's flipper-like hand.

"His name is Togepi." Misty said quietly. "Isn't he cute?" Misty smiled when the others agreed. 

"Is he a baby pokemon?" Kari whispered.

"Yeah, but I don't know what he'll grow up into yet." Misty said, carefully taking Togepi away from Mimi, who frowned but complied. Misty cradled Togepi carefully and hummed a little lullaby.

"Whatever he grows up into, I hope he's as sweet as he is now." Mimi cooed.

"Oh look, he's starting to cry. I think he's having a bad dream. Aww...come here. Don't cry..." Yolei said, carefully holding the sleeping Togepi when Misty handed him to her.

As the four girls enjoyed the company of little Togepi, Pikachu decided to move on over to where Izzy, Joe, Cody and Brock were hanging out. Pikachu hopped on Brock's shoulder, hoping to get in on the conversation (figuratively, anyway...)

"So, you're a Pokemon 'breeder'? What duties does that entail?" Izzy asked.

"Well, I make the food for the pokemon, and I carefully monitor their behavior so that I can help them grow and live better. It's a tough job, but very interesting."

"No kidding." Joe said, obviously intrigued. "I've been working on becoming a doctor someday, so maybe we can talk about how you take care of the pokemon, and what kind of diet you give them. It should be helpful in the long run, if we're going to be working together."

"I agree. It would help if we know how your pokemon fight and act." Cody said. "If they're anything like digimon, then they can be very complex when it comes to their behavior.

"Good idea." Brock said. "In fact, how about I give you a quick summary of Pokemon with the help of Pikachu here." Pikachu smiled from Brock's shoulder.

"Prodigious."

"Alright, sounds great." Joe added. Cody nodded in agreement, and Brock began his explanation of pokemon.

From the computer terminal on the other side of the room, Mewtwo smiled to himself. Hearing the sound of the children talk and interact was a good sign. "Well..." he whispered inwardly. "...they seem to be good and kind children. I guess they're still tied in that department.". Mewtwo, arguably the most powerful pokemon alive, chuckled silently and worked on gathering the digimon from the Digital World. 


	4. Innocence of Youth

The computer systems hummed around Seth. Even with the indescribably massive amount of memory within these biocomputers, even they were working hard completing the program he was working on. Seth wondered if the computer would fry if he put on some music. Deciding to test Fate, Seth called to the computer system.  
  
"Computer. Upload Napster file 'all.m3u'."  
  
/File uploaded. Request track start./  
  
"Start track on song 4." Seth replied. Instantly the song "Freak on a Leash" by Korn started to blare on the massive speakers linked to his lab's computer network. Seth smiled and sang along with the music while he worked.  
  
/Sattelite network Pheta has picked up a surge of teleportive energy in the New Island II area./  
  
"What's Mewtwo doing?" Seth mused. "Computer, scan for human biological signs on New Island II."  
  
/Scan shows 14 human life signs. Dimensional ID shows that 11 of the 14 come from Timeline Delta./  
  
"The digi-destined?!" Seth said. "Well, at least he can't use my evolution technology without my DNA code. But still...that makes things difficult. And the other three are probably Ash and the gang. Why he brought them is beyond me. In a fight against my mega-digimon, they'll be fairly useless."  
  
/Digimon program complete./  
  
Seth smiled. "Good. Activate the program."  
  
/Activating file "Bahamon"./  
  
The computers hummed to life, and in the room's center, a small light formed. Seth walked over and carefully watched the formation of the digimon. The light was blinding, forcing Seth to shade his glasses with his hands.   
  
/Bahamon has been activated./  
  
"All right." Seth said. Slowly he approached the digimon, who remained in the center of the room. The small, red, dragon-like creature slowly opened its eyes and looked around nervously. Sensing the approach of Seth, the creature whipped around and growled at the human.   
  
Seth did nothing, but simply allowed the creature to get a good look at him. Slowly, Bahamon approached Seth and took a deep sniff of the boy. Seth slowly moved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a soft, juicy pear. The fresh fruit made Bahamon drool.  
  
"Can...I have that please?" Bahamon said in a soft, soothing whisper that reminded Seth of a Disney cartoon character. "I'm...so hungry."  
  
"Of course Bahamon." Seth said, handing the pear to the newborn digimon, who happily took the food and ate it. The dragon digimon smiled when the pear was all gone, and happily looked around the room. Noticing the obvious lack of other people, Bahamon wondered where he was.   
  
"What is this place?" the little dragon said.  
  
"This? This is my lab. We're inside my Construct."  
  
"Con...Construct?" he asked.  
  
"You've never heard of the Matrix movie, but this is basically a computer program where virtual reality can be digitally programmed and used. I enter here with a special device on my wrist watch." he said, showing Bahamon his watch. "This is where I made you, using the energy stored in my internet uplink, and these copies of my home computer in the real world."  
  
"You made me? Then does that mean...you're my father?" the newborn asked.  
  
"Well...I guess so. But I'm not a digimon. I'm human. And I'm going to let you have fun with your life, rather than boss you around."  
  
Bahamon still wasn't sure what Seth was thinking, or why he made him, but he felt comfort in his heart when Seth said he would have a happy life. "So are we going to be friends forever?"  
  
Seth frowned and pushed his glasses back up. "...I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly a friendly person. If I were your friend, nobody would like you, because nobody likes me." Bahamon frowned when Seth said that, thinking it was somehow his fault, but Seth quickly destroyed that idea. "I'm thinking for your benefit. After we finish my experiment, I want you to have fun and make lots of friends. You are such a nice, strong, and beautiful digimon that you'll have lots of friends. I'm sure of it."  
  
Bahamon still felt sad that Seth was so...lonely, but he smiled to try and cheer him up. "If I make lots of friends, I'll introduce them to you, and you can be friends too!"  
  
Seth frowned again, and turned to a nearby computer. As he typed away, he answered. "We'll see if they like me later on (although I doubt it...). For now, I need your help Bahamon."  
  
"Really? What's wrong?" he said in an innocent voice.  
  
Seth finished punching commands on his computer, and a small, flying robot that was basically a camera floated near Bahamon and shined a light on him. Bahamon blinked and shielded his eyes from the light. The Cambot whirred and clicked, and the main computer screen began displaying data.  
  
/Bahamon. A dragon digimon. LEVEL: Champion. ATTACKS: Fire Breath [fire]. TYPE: Vaccine. FURTHER EVOLUTIONS: Tiamon (ultimate; Turtle Wave [psychic]), Neuromon (mega; Dreams of God [psychic])./  
  
"When I built your program, I made sure you were very strong, because I need you to help me with my experiment." Little Bahamon nodded in limited understanding. Seth continued. "The experiment involves battling between Pokemon and Digimon, and I really need your help in fighting some people that don't want me to do the experiment. Since I didn't want to use the test subjects to do that, since it would mess up the data, I need you to defend the lab for me."  
  
Bahamon nodded and hopped onto a nearby table, knocking over some notes and pens from the tabletop. "Who am I trying to protect you from?"  
  
"Lots of people will try to get in, but in particular I want you to fight a guy named Mewtwo." said Seth, punching a command on his keyboard. On the screen, Mewtwo's image appeared, revolving around and showing his basic anatomy.   
  
/Mewtwo. An experimental pokemon. LEVEL: equivalent Mega. ATTACKS: unlimited variations [psychic]. TYPE: indeterminate. FURTHER EVOLUTIONS: unknown. ELEMENT AFFILIATION: Psychic. ELEMENT WEAKNESS: unknown. Believed to be psychic./  
  
"That...is Mewtwo. He's very dangerous. Even though he won't be able to go into the Construct, I can't fight him when I'm watching the battle between the two worlds." Seth turned to Bahamon. "That's why I need you to protect me. If you do this one thing for me, then I'll do anything you want for the rest of your life. I want you to be happy."  
  
"I just want you to be happy too, Seth." Bahamon answered. "I want to be your friend and help you make friends, so we can both be happy."  
  
Seth made a little smile. "It's refreshing to meet such an optomistic personality such as yourself." Seth turned to the computer and started to punch on the keyboards, while Bahamon sat next to him and watched his newest 'friend' work.  
  
****  
  
"So that's the story?" Agumon asked Tai, who had just finished explaining why the digimon had launched into the sky and fell on the floor of some strange house in another universe, where they could still remain at their rookie levels.  
  
"Yeah, that's basically the whole story." Tai answered. "We try to help Mewtwo save the world, and at the same time he wants us to do some tests for him so that he can continue his research."  
  
"What kind of tests?" Gabumon asked, still rubbing his butt where he landed.  
  
"He gave me a small list of things he'll ask us to do." Izzy said, handing the list to Tai. Everyone tried to read over his shoulder, which made Tai feel a little closed in. After scooting away several inches, he started to read the top of the list out loud.  
  
"IQ exams...endurance and strength courses...stress management skills...man, this sounds like something you take to get in the military."  
  
"Just keep reading it." Brock said, trying to get a better look at the list from his spot in the back of the others.   
  
Tai sighed and resumed reading the list. "EQ exams...wait a minute, what's EQ?"  
  
"It means Emotional Quotient." said Joe. "It's supposed to tell if your very open or very reserved emotionally. It's good for finding out who's good for what kinds of jobs."  
  
"Oh, okay. *sigh* let's see....EQ exams...human to nonhuman relationship...natural level of psychic and magical power...is he serious?!"  
  
"Just finish the list!" Everyone yelled. Tai cringed a little and resumed his reading.  
  
"Acting skills (what the...), response to emergency situations, physical skills, and psychological health. There, that's all."  
  
"That's a lot of tests." Mimi said. "And I haven't studied one bit."  
  
"What is the deal with acting skills? What does that have to do with anything?" Davis said. "Besides, I'm not acting in front of anybody!"  
  
"It's a display of your skill with communication and on-the-fly decision making. Plus it will show how much modesty and embaressment you have. It's all part of my mental tests." Mewtwo said, walking into the room with a handful of devices.  
  
"So we're going to save the world while taking all your tests?! How are we supposed to do that, and why?!" Ash complained.  
  
"If I complete the research, then there's a chance that Seth will stop his experiment and resume the status quo between the two worlds. I'm trying to stop this before any fighting is needed." Mewtwo said.   
  
"So how will this work then?" Gatomon asked. "Nonhumans go fight, while the humans go act on stage?" she asked.  
  
"Of course not. That would be counter-productive to my experiments if I divide the nonhumans and the humans."  
  
"Then what's the plan?" Veemon asked.  
  
"I'll pick a few of you to stop Seth's attempts to make the digimon and pokemon fight, while the rest stay here and do my tests. Not all of you will do every test, but that is alright, since the data generated in each test will overlap with other tests."  
  
"So we work in shifts? Do we get paid or something?" Davis joked.   
  
"I'm for that!" Ash added.   
  
"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.  
  
"What'd he say?" Veemon asked.   
  
"Don't ask me." Hawkmon said.  
  
"Not a clue." Armadillomon replied.  
  
"Me neither." Patomon said.  
  
"Ditto." Gatomon said.  
  
Mewtwo nodded. "So none of the digimon can speak with pokemon. Hmm...interesting. I guess the language isn't as compatible with digital minds as I thought."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Palmon said, being just as lost as Mimi was.  
  
Mewtwo handed a small collar to Pikachu, who growled and said, "Pi Pika! Chu....."   
  
"Such language is unnecessary, but you have nothing to worry about Pikachu." Mewtwo answered. "This Marco Collar will allow the others to understand you. It won't hurt you or your abilities at all. It runs off of your body's natural electric current, and stretches or shrinks to fit comfortably around your body."  
  
"Go ahead Pikachu." Ash said. "We can take it off if any time, so don't worry."  
  
Pikachu nodded half-heartedly, and carefully walked into the ring.   
  
"That looks just like a dark ring." TK said as the pokemon walked in.  
  
"Now that you mention it..." Kari said. Davis leaped at the yellow pokemon just as the ring constricted around him and hummed to life. Davis practically tackled Pikachu and began to claw at the black band.   
  
"Pika Pi Chu!!!..*zchzxx* What are you doing you crazy kid?!" Pikachu yelled. Everyone looked in amazement at the little yellow pokemon, who stood up and stared at himself in amazement. "Wow...I'm talking in Japanese!" he said.  
  
Mewtwo smiled. "The band takes your thoughts and converts them to the Japanese language, then says them with a preset audio system. It's a very advanced piece of machinery that Seth made using the Pokedex systems and microtechnology. It will allow you to serve as the translator for the other pokemon, since you'll always be outside your pokeball."  
  
Davis stood up with an embarrased grin. "Eh heh heh...sorry about that."  
  
"No problem Davis!" Pikachu said, giving a peace sign. Everyone (except Mewtwo) laughed, while the purple pokemon handed some little devices to Ash, Misty, and Brock.  
  
"Hey, that looks like our D3's!" Yolei said.  
  
"They're only for communication." Mewtwo said. "They will allow you all to send e-mail to each other when you're out in the field. It will be useful in the long run."  
  
"Wow....thanks Mewtwo." Ash said.   
  
"Yeah, thanks." Misty added.  
  
"We'll be real careful with them." Brock said.  
  
"Very well. Now I suggest you get some rest. It's almost nightfall, and tomorrow we will start the experimentation. I've double-checked the rooms that were built for this place, and they have been furnished for you all. Boys' room, girls' room. Each can hold about a dozen kids, or a dozen digimon, or any combination there of."  
  
"What about Pikachu? Don't pokemon have to sleep somewhere?" Davis asked.  
  
"He can sleep with us!" Yolei said, smiling and rubbing Pikachu's head.  
  
"I'm for that!" Pikachu cheered, making all the guys sweatdrop.  
  
"And little Togepi will sleep with me, right Togepi?" Misty asked.   
  
"Toge, toge!" the little pokemon said.  
  
"He said "Yes, of course!"." Pikachu said.  
  
"Pokemon sleep in their pokeballs." Cody said. "Brock explained to us that Pikachu is claustrophobic, and won't willingly enter a pokeball."  
  
"Awww...poor little guy." Biyomon said. "If you get scared, we'll comfort you."  
  
"Yeah, we'll make you REALLY comfortable." Palmon said, smiling and giggling with Mimi, Yolei, and Kari.  
  
Ash groaned. "Why do all the girls like Pikachu."  
  
"It's gotta be the hair." Pikachu said jokingly. More laughter from the kids echoed through the halls. Mewtwo made a sound like he was clearing his throat, even though he doesn't need his throat to speak.  
  
"Cody is correct. The pokemon belonging to Ash, Misty, and Brock will sleep in their pokeballs, except for Pikachu, who will sleep in the boys room."   
  
The girls sighed, except for Sora, who asked "What about you?"  
  
"...I will find somewhere to sleep. I also refuse to sleep in a pokeball." Mewtwo said simply, walking down the hallway and looking over his shoulder at their surprised faces. "Come with me, and I'll show you where the rooms are."  
  
All the kids walked with Mewtwo, with some chatting during the short trip (particulary Ash and Davis, who were plotting all kinds of pranks to do on the girls when they went to sleep). After a short trip down the hallway exiting the main lab, Mewtwo stopped before a room labeled with a red flower on the doorway.   
  
"This is the girls' bedrooms. It holds three bunk beds, which should be enough for you and your digimon, as well as Togepi." Mewtwo continued down the hall, passing two doors. As they passed, he said "Girls' bathroom, Boys' bathroom...separated, of course."  
  
"D'oh!" Brock said. Izzy and Joe sighed, and the three guys laughed.  
  
"(I think Brock is a bad influence on your friends there.)" Misty whispered to Sora and Mimi, which made them giggle a little.   
  
"(Joe and Izzy need some bad influence. They could enjoy some relaxation from their normal, boring lives at school.)" Sora said.  
  
Mewtwo stopped in front of a door marked with a blue flower. "Boys' room. It has five bunk beds." Turning around, he continued. "If any of you need something vital, then call on my Dragonite, and he'll fly off to get it. I won't have any abuse of his services though."  
  
"Ooh...grouchy." Yolei said.  
  
"All the Who's down in Whoville enjoyed Christmas a lot, but Mewtwo, who just lived north of Whoville...did not." TK said in his best inpersonation of the classic narrator. The kids suppressed giggles and laughs, but Mewtwo simply glared at TK, who stopped laughing soon enough.  
  
"If I have need of you, I'll call you telepathically. My Dragonite has set up a vegetarian dinner for you. Cheese, grapes, sliced apples and peaches, and some water. Nothing fancy, but it should be enough. Don't stay up to late, because tomorrow will be rough."  
  
"Yes, dad." Davis joked. Mewtwo didn't respond to it, but rather walked back down the hall towards his lab. The kids watched him walk away in silence.  
  
"That wasn't very nice guys." Sora said. "He's trying his best."  
  
"Oh come on Sora. It's all in fun." Tai said. "He knows that. Besides, if he really got mad at us, he could just toss out the window...literally."   
  
"Well *yawn*, I'm ready to get some shut eye. I haven't been sleeping well, so this change of pace should be good for me." Matt said. "It's like going to summer camp!"   
  
"Hey, you're right!" Tai added. "Heh heh. I wonder if he'll let us use that 'gym' of his for soccer."  
  
"I bet Ash, TA, and I can take you old guys on!" Davis challenged.  
  
"You're on!" Tai replied. "Matt and I can take you guys with our eyes closed!"   
  
"We'll see about that!" Ash said, laughing.  
  
"Let's just get to bed, guys." Tentomon said. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."  
  
"He's right." Pikachu replied.   
  
"Well, good night ladies." Gomamon said, walking off to the room with the blue flower on it. The males followed him in, with Davis and Tai still challenging each other to soccer.  
  
"I guess we should do the same." Gatomon said, opening the door with the red flower on it."  
  
"You're right. I'm beat." Kari said. The girls walked into the room, except for Sora, who looked down the hall where Mewtwo's lab was. Biyomon was about to walk into the room with the others, but when she noticed Sora wasn't following, she stopped and turned around.  
  
"What is it, Sora?" the little bird asked. "Aren't you coming in?"  
  
"....Not yet, Biyomon. I have to go check something out really quick. You go on ahead."  
  
"Are you sure? I can come with you, if you want." Biyomon replied.  
  
"No that's okay. I'll be alright. It won't take too long. I'll be back before you know it." Sora said, slowly walking down the large hallway back towards the lab.  
  
"Um...whatever you say, Sora." Biyomon said, closing the door as the girls chattered away about how cute and sweet Ash was, and how lucky Misty was (while Misty insisted that her and Ash were not going out, much to the amusement of the others).  
  
Sora slowly walked down the hall, hearing the echo of her shoes on the marble floor in her ears. She wondered how anyone could live in such a huge place by themselves without getting lonely. She didn't like being alone herself, so she could only imagine what others felt like when they were all alone.  
  
A large orange thing bumped into Sora as she thought, which startled her enough to make her scream a little. She looked at the stranger, and saw what looked like a six-foot-tall dragon with small wings, a round nose and mouth, and a confused expression on its face when Sora's fear became apparent.  
  
"Uh....sorry. *^_^* ", she said. The creature bowed and continued on its way, while Sora watched it carefully. When it became obvious that it wasn't concerned about her, Sora continued on her walk. Upon entering the lab again, Sora looked around for Mewtwo. She quietly walked towards where the holographs were displayed earlier, and looked around.   
  
"Hmm...where could you be?" she whispered to herself. A glimpse of light caught her eye at the window, and Sora walked over to find out what it was. Looking out the large window, Sora saw a balcony overlooking the massive gym that the others were talking about. The sky was filled with beautiful stars as far as the eye could see. Covering a large portion of the sky was the massive blue portal that Seth had made, which swirled silently, unlike its initial opening, when it was roaring like an earthquake.  
  
Sora allowed herself a moment to admire the beautiful sky, then decided to resume her search. As she turned away, Sora saw something walking onto the gym below. A light wind blew outside, but Sora could still hear the sound of footsteps on the gym surface. After careful inspection, Sora could make out Mewtwo's tail and ears, as well as his other characteristics. The pokemon seemed to be thinking about something that made him sag his head, as if he were depressed. Sora felt a wave of pity fly through her, and she looked around for a way to get down to the gym floor.   
  
After a quick search, Sora found the door that led to the gym outside. A quick turn of the knob, and the digi-destined was outside in the chill, sea air. Sora was glad her mother insisted on her wearing thick clothes for the winter weather, even though it would be warm inside the theater. Sora slowly walked out towards where Mewtwo stood, carefully trying not to startle him or alert him to her presence. Carefully, she tried to listen to him thinking aloud...  
  
****  
  
Mewtwo looked up at the massive, blue whirlpool of light that filled up a good portion of the western night sky. The pokemon sighed deeply as thoughts raced through his mind at a-mile-a-minute.  
  
"It's been a while since I've had people in my home." the pokemon said aloud. "Seth was as much a person as I am, so he didn't disturb me like this. He was so quiet and reserved, that we never bothered saying anything outside of our studies. It was easy that way. These kids...aren't like that."  
  
Mewtwo waved his hand, and before him an image of the kids and their digimon talking in their rooms appeared. The girls were making ponytails out of each others' hair, as well as talking about themselves and their pasts. Meanwhile, the boys were doing the same, but were also holding a little wrestling tournament, in which Davis was leaping at Matt in an attempt to knock him down. Veemon and Patomon waited in their corners, waiting to be tagged, while the other guys laughed and cheered for who they thought would win.  
  
"They lead such happy lives, despite the fact that they each face challenges on almost a daily basis, and have faced death time and time again." Mewtwo waved his hand, and the images disappeared. "It reminds me of when I lived without a care in the world... my memories as Mew."  
  
Mewtwo blinked his eyes, and the images of his life as Mew flashed before him. Sleeping in the pure lake of the most secluded mountains...flying through the sky and frollicking amongst the clouds...living in perfect harmony with nature and the other pokemon that lived nearby. It was heaven compared to his life now.  
  
A single tear managed to escape from Mewtwo's cold gaze, which fell to the gym floor below. Mewtwo growled in frustration, and cried out in anger. His hand shot up, and a blast of psychic power destroyed the ground in front of him where the images were. The gym floor shattered there, and an image of Mew's reflection in a pool of water slowly flickered away. When the last of his images faded away, he clenched his fists and tried to calm himself down, forcing the anger in his heart to return to the deep recesses of his mind.  
  
"Are you okay?" a soft, soothing voice said from behind him. Mewtwo spun around, instinctively powering up his abilities. Sora cringed and covered herself with her arms, as if that would protect her from his powers. When Mewtwo realized that it was just her, he calmed himself down and released his hold on his power. Sora peaked to see if he was still going to hurt her, but when Mewtwo's eyes had stopped glowing bright blue, she let her arms fall to her sides.   
  
"...I'm sorry, Sora." Mewtwo said calmly. "I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I must be more careful, now that you all are going to stay here for a little while."  
  
Sora smiled, which surprised Mewtwo, who wasn't used to being smiled at. "No harm done." she replied, stepping a little closer to the pokemon. "I saw you crying, and I wanted to help."  
  
Mewtwo's gaze showed his disbelief, but soon turned to concern when he noticed a slight wetness around her eyes. "Were you crying as well?"  
  
Sora wiped her eyes a little and laughed unconvincingly. "Well, um...no, something got stuck in my eye. Eh heh heh."  
  
Mewtwo said nothing in response, but obviously didn't believe her.  
  
Sora finally relented. "Yes, yes... I'm sorry, but I cry when I hear a sad story... That's why I don't go to a lot of movies" she said, hoping to make him laugh. Mewtwo did nothing of the kind, and instead turned around to look out over the ocean around his island, as if to ignore her.  
  
For a while neither of them spoke. Finally, Mewtwo turned his head towards her and said, "Is there something else that you want?".  
  
Sora tried to think of some excuse for being out here, but nothing came. "Um...no, no there's nothing else. I just wanted to say good night, and sweet dreams." she said, bowing respectfully our of habit. She instantly regretted saying that, after seeing what kind of memories he dreams about.  
  
Mewtwo's gaze fell back to the ocean, and Sora thought he was done talking. Slowly turning, she walked towards the gym door.  
  
"Good night, Sora." Mewtwo said quietly. Sora whipped around, amazed at what she just heard. She looked at Mewtwo's back for a while, but he didn't turn, nor did he say anything else. Sora simply smiled and walked indoors to rejoin the others.  
  
"Sweet dreams..." Mewtwo thought. The pokemon silently watched the waves crash on the shore below, and listened as the waters washed on shore and returned to the sea, like they've done for countless millenia. 


	5. Test

----------------------------------  
DECEMBER 21st, 2000  
Mewtwo's Lab on New Island II  
----------------------------------  
  
  
Ash stared at the screen as the next question flashed on. The pokemon trainer read, reread, and re-reread the question, but still it seemed to easy. There HAD to be a trick. That's the way tests were. There weren't easy answers.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
-MULTIPLE CHOICE: Which weighs more: A ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?   
-a. bricks  
-b. feathers.  
-c. Both bricks and feathers.  
-d. Neither bricks nor feathers  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"That's easy. Bricks are heavier than feathers, so A." Ash said, punching the appropriate key. "Next question..."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
-TRUE OR FALSE: Magnetic North is different than True North.  
-a. True  
-b. False  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Oh I know that one. I may get lost a lot, but I know how to use a compass. A."  
  
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The computers instantly froze when the time was up, and the answers that were completed were downloaded into a central computer within Mewtwo's lab. The kids that were present (Ash, Davis, Yolei, TK, Mimi and Misty) made their way to the lab to see how they ranked.  
  
"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Mimi sighed. "I hate tests."  
  
"Oh man, that sucked!" Davis said, rubbing his tired eyes and stretching his arms. "I think I got the lowest score in my life on that test."  
  
"Well, that would make sense, since this IS an IQ test." said Yolei, making the others laugh.   
  
Davis laughed mockingly. "Oh VERY funny. I'm sure glad we have the nerdette on our side, so that our world doesn't look TOTALLY stupid." The others laughed some more, while Yolei stuck out her tongue at Davis, who did the same.  
  
"So how about you Ash?" Misty asked. "Did you bomb the test as you usually do when under pressure?"  
  
Ash laughed sarcastically. "Ha ha. If you must know, I think I did pretty good on that test. I probably am a genius just waiting to be discovered."  
  
"What'd you say for the bricks and feathers question?" Yolei asked.  
  
"The bricks, right?" Davis said. Ash nodded in agreement, bringing on some giggles from the other kids. "What? What's so funny?"  
  
"Well, we'll just have to see the results. Here's the lab." TK said. The kids all walked up to the screen, where Mewtwo's Dragonite stood to make sure there was no tampering with the machine. When the IQ's were displayed on the screen, the kids approached and looked at their names.  
  
"Wow! I got a 70! That's the best test grade I've ever got." Davis cheered. The others sweatdropped.  
  
"Uh, Davis...that's not 70%. That's IQ 70. That means you're not a moron, but you're still below average." Yolei said.   
  
"Aww, dang." Davis said, sulking and walking away.  
  
Yolei fixed her glasses and looked at her score, smiling. "120! Go me!!" shouted Yolei, dancing away.  
  
"I gotta 100. That's a little above average!" TK said, smiling. Davis clenched his fists and glared at TK, who walked back where the fellow digi-destined was standing.  
  
"Hey, a 90! Great!" Misty said. "That's what a beautiful, intelligent girl like me should have."   
  
"I think the computer has a bug." Ash said, smiling. Misty growled and clenched her fists, making Ash dodge and run up to get his score.  
  
Mimi smiled. "An 80 for me. Mmm...it's okay. I'm not much of a brainiac anyway. I'll leave that to Izzy and Yolei." she said smiling.  
  
"Hey I gotta 80 also. Alright!!" cheered Ash, leaping up and down.   
  
"And you're happy with that?" Misty said. "What happened to the 'genius waiting to be discovered'?"  
  
Ash smiled. "Not all geniuses have high IQ's. Look at Einstein."  
  
Misty groaned. "If you're another Einstein, then I'm another Amelia Earhart."  
  
"I guess that makes us even so far." TK said. "I wonder how the others will do."  
  
"Hey, here come the digimon and the pokemon. Did they do the same test?" Misty asked as the gang strolled in.  
  
"I think so." Yolei answered. "But why would Mewtwo do that? Some of that stuff is humans only kind of stuff, and digimon don't go to school."  
  
"Neither do Pokemon." Ash mentioned. "But then again, they're pretty smart."  
  
Dragonite punched some commands, and the scores of the others appeared on screen. The kids and their nonhuman companions looked at the scores with interest, and noticed a little pattern.  
  
"The digimon are pretty close to their human partners. Only about 10 points different." Yolei said. "I guess that makes sense, since each digi-destined works with a digimon that is directly compatible with them, so it would make sense that they are as smart as each other."  
  
"Is a 75 good?" Veemon asked Davis. The digi-destined sighed and shooed the question away.  
  
"The pokemon are all different- around 90, but look at Pikachu's score. It's much higher than Ash's." Misty said, pointing at Pikachu's 110. "Good job Pikachu!"   
  
Pikachu did a victory pose and smiled. "Sorry to blow you off the board Ash." Ash groaned, but laughed along with everyone else as he returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, as did Misty.  
  
"Are all your brothers and sister as smart as you Pikachu?" Yolei asked.  
  
"Nah. We're as different as humans are, just like the other pokemon. I just happen to know a bit more about the world."   
  
"Yeah. We sure have seen a lot on our journey, and have learned a lot from our adventures."  
  
"Guess that doesn't leave a lot of time for school." TK said.   
  
"Oh, we don't go to school." Misty said. "When you turn 10, you start your Pokemon journey, and learn what you need on the road."  
  
"No way?! You mean you don't have to do homework?!" Davis said. "Man, I wish I didn't have to go to school."  
  
"It certainly isn't helping you any." Yolei joked, bringing on another fit of laughter.  
  
"Let's go see how the others are doing." TK said. "I heard they're doing the stamina part of the tests. Lots of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and running, all wrapped up into a relay race."  
  
"A race?!" Davis said. "I'm there!" he said, dashing towards the outdoor gym area.  
  
"Wait up Davis!" Veemon shouted. Veemon and the others quickly followed Davis, and soon were all out the door.  
  
****  
  
"Come on, Sora! Hurry!" Gabumon shouted. "You're almost there!"   
  
Sora ran as fast as she could, complaining "I didn't wear my shoes!"   
  
"But Mewtwo gave you a uniform for this!" Gabumon said, pointing out the new clothes that everyone was wearing for the test. "That included tennis shoes!"  
  
"But they aren't MY shoes!" Sora added, making the others groan.  
  
"Good for me then." Joe said, running past her as fast as he could. Having longer legs, Joe should have been able to run faster. However, like Izzy, who was lagging behind, he wasn't much of a runner. Luckily, they all were pretty much not push-up artists.  
  
"Let's go Armadillomon!" shouted Cody from across the field at his relay point. "This should be easy for you!"  
  
"My legs are too short!" Armadillomon said from his place next to Izzy in third.  
  
Soon, Sora and Joe reached the point where they were to do twenty push-ups as fast as they could. Joe started his first few push-ups as Sora flew through the push-ups, thanks to her tennis arms.  
  
"One...two...th-three..." Joe counted, trying to do his push-ups.   
  
"Oh man...this is tough....five...six...seven..." Sora said, counting away as Armadillomon and Izzy made it to their push-up points and started to do their twenty.  
  
They counted away, and soon the push-ups slowed down, with Sora hovering at 15, Joe at 10, Armadillomon 10 and climbing fast (since he didn't have to work barely at all to do push-ups), and Izzy in last with 5.   
  
Mewtwo looked over at the computer monitor that hooked up to the recorders. The pokemon nodded and returned to the 'action' as Davis ran up next to him, followed by Veemon, and the other test-takers.  
  
"Who's winning?" Davis asked. Looking at the counter, he got his answer, and yelled "GO!!...eh, who's team is Kari on?"   
  
Mewtwo groaned, but answered. "Izzy and Kari are on the same team."  
  
"What?! Izzy is too slow!" cupping his hands together, Davis shouted, "Come on Izzy! Suck it up!"   
  
Izzy growled and continued his push-ups, nearly falling over. "I'd like to see you try this Davis."  
  
TK smiled at the competitors. "This reminds me of the basketball tryouts at school."   
  
"I wish Pikachu and I were out there." Ash said. "We'd beat everybody without breaking a sweat!" he boasted. Pikachu agreed and laughed.  
  
"I'd be surprised if you could even do a push-up, as lazy as you are." Misty said, giggling.   
  
Ash growled, but returned his attention to the race when Yolei shouted, "There goes Armadillomon!"  
  
"And there's Sora." said Hawkmon. They watched as Armadillomon tagged Brock, who dashed to the sit-up point, along with Sora's relay partner Gabumon. Soon, Joe and Izzy followed, tagging their respective partners Agumon and Gatomon, who raced after the other two.  
  
"Looks like a close race." Patomon said from on top of TK's head.   
  
"Go Gatomon! Go go go!" Davis shouted.   
  
"Way to go, Brock!" Ash shouted, waving his hands fervishly.  
  
Brock and Gabumon reached the sit-up station at about the same time, and each started knocking out sit-ups quickly. By the time their count reached 10, Gatomon and Agumon reached the station and started theirs.   
  
"Let's go Gabumon!!" shouted Yolei, waving her purple hankerchief she wore for a hat in the air like a rally flag.  
  
"Come on Agumon!" Misty yelled. Togepi clapped and waved his little flippers as well.  
  
Brock shot up and ran the rest of the way to the next relayer, Geodude (whom Brock picked because he knew the next event was pull-ups). Only a second after Geodude hopped along, Gabumon and Agumon tagged their partners, Biyomon and Gomamon, respectively. Just after them, Gatomon raced up and tagged Kari, who dashed off after the others.  
  
"Way to go Kari!!" Davis and TK shouted at the same time. The four runners reached the station, and all of them started doing the dreaded pull-ups. Like the other stations, they had to do twenty, so this one would probably take a little longer. Kari struggled with hers, as did the aquatic Gomamon, while Biyoon and Geodude flashed through the pull-ups, since both had strong arms.  
  
"It's quite even." Mewtwo mused, checking to make sure the physical data was being recorded along with the contest counters. Seeing that the computer was functioning properly, Mewtwo resumed his watch of the contest.  
  
"Eighteen....Nineteen...Twenty!" cheered Biyomon, who fell to the ground and started to run to the last relayer. Geodude quickly followed, with Kari and Gomamon not to far behind.  
  
Tai and Matt waited at their spots, holding their hands out in wait. Looking over at Matt, Tai said "Heh heh. Bet I make it to the finish line before you even get halfway."   
  
"You're on!" Matt joked. "I warn you Tai. I won a lot of relay races back in school."  
  
"You never faced me though!" he retaliated with a smile.  
  
"Man, I hate not being able to fly for this. Mewtwo's a real party pooper." Tentomon complained. "Geodude could fly!"  
  
"He didn't fly. He hopped." Cody said. "Besides, he has no legs. You do."  
  
"Oh, fine." Tentomon said.  
  
The four relayers quickly tagged the final four runners. Tai was tagged first, followed quickly by Matt, and tied in third were Cody and Tentomon. The four racers had to run around the race track that was set up, and cross the finish line. The four runners rounded the corner, passing the cheering kids next to Mewtwo.  
  
"Let's go bro!" TK shouted. Matt smiled and gave a high-five to TK as he passed.  
  
"Come on you pansy! Run!!" Yolei shouted angrily towards Matt, who cringed but laughed at the same time. Hawkmon laughed as well, but didn't cheer for anyone in particular.  
  
"Way to go Cody!" Ash shouted.   
  
"Don't give up! Don't let those guys push you around." Pikachu cheered. Cody nodded, and kept on running.  
  
"Come on, Tentomon!" shouted Veemon.  
  
"Go Team Kari!" Davis cheered. Tentomon sweatdropped, but continued to waddle along as fast as he could.  
  
The two leaders rounded the final bend, and were neck in neck. Tai tried to push ahead, but Matt just kept on coming. The two put everything they had into it, but neither could get an advantage over the other. There was only a few yards left until the finish line, so they gave it their all.  
  
Both seemed to cross the finish line at the same time, but each side cheered for their man's victory at the same time. Tai and Matt crossed first (but none of the kids or digimon were sure which one was first), with Cody in second, and Tentomon waddling along in third.  
  
Mewtwo walked towards the main lab while the kids cheered for the racers, congratulating them and each other. Soon the mob of kids made their way into the lab, where the data had been processed. Just for kicks, Mewtwo showed the winner of the race to be Tai (his hair was across before either of them), much to the others' annoyance. Despite his win, the others congratulated him and asked the others about the tests they had to take. The kids said how hard it was, and would have talked about the questions on the test, had Mewtwo not stopped them with a wave of his hand.  
  
"They have to take the test as well this afternoon. Meanwhile, those of you who took the IQ test will do the same race out there."  
  
"Alright!!" Davis shouted. "Your ass is mine, Ash Ketchum! Right, Veemon?!"  
  
"You betcha!" Veemon cheered.  
  
"We'll see about that!" Ash laughed.  
  
"See ya on the field!" Pikachu cheered, leaping back outside to the gym floor to stretch.   
  
Mewtwo shrugged. "Okay, we'll do the race now. Computer, set up the tests computers for the other groups." When the computer was ready, the kids, digimon, and pokemon went to do their next tests.   
  
****  
  
The night sky sparkled with starry light, catching Mewtwo's eye every now and then. The pokemon examined the data on the screen again, eyeing each score from each child, digimon, and pokemon. Averaging them together, and comparing the various data, Mewtwo carefully studied the patterns to see if anything striking jumped out at him. Flicking on a command telekinetically, Mewtwo spoke aloud to the computer recorder.  
  
"December 21st, 2000. First day tests were the IQ and Stamina tests. IQ test results are within expectations. The pokemons' intelligence range as high and low as typical humans (including that annoying Psyduck that rated a 30 on the test...), and aren't apparently influenced intellectually by their trainers in a noticeable way. Digimon, on the other hand, share very similar personalities and mental abilities with their human partners, and thus have scores within a few points of theirs. I expect to see a similar comparison in the psychological and emotional experiments."  
  
Mewtwo flicked the screen data to the Stamina data from the relay race. "Stamina test results are similar. Both the pokemon and digimon share comparible amounts of energy in their Rookie form. The child Izzy (as well as Seth's earlier notes) say that digimon stamina levels reduce at higher evolutions due to more energy being used in those forms. The data here seems to point in that direction as well, since the digimons' Rookie stage seems to store high amounts of energy when compared to the pokemon...except for Pikachu, whose energy levels are somewhat mutated by an anomaly I have identified as a 'power-up' used by Ash a few years ago before his battle with Onix and Brock. Other than that, pokemon and digimon seem to share similar energy levels. Projection of the energy storage and generation capabilities of each species show that higher levels of evolution react similarly. Second and Third stage Pokemon don't generate raw energy as high as the Champion, Ultimate, and Mega digimon, but the Digimon evolutions are not permanent like Pokemon evolution, thus balancing out the two."  
  
Mewtwo turned off the data on the screen, and started to pace. "Tomorrow, I will begin a psychological test with the kids. I will see how they react to an all-out attack by "alien forces" on my island, and hold a staged-battle without their knowledge. This will allow me to study their physical skills, prowess, and their ability to react to situations. End Log." The computer recorder clicked off, and Mewtwo returned to his seat, thinking to himself what plans he had to make.  
  
****  
  
"Man, I'm beat." Davis said, laying down on his lower part of the bunk. "But at least we got to do the race."  
  
"Yeah, and you got to eat my dust!" Ash said, laughing down from his top bunk. "Pikachu and I owned you guys!"  
  
"Well, I wouldn't say 'owned'..." Pikachu said, trying to show some modesty.  
  
"Your race wasn't as close as ours was." Matt said. "Man that was cool. I was just this....close to beating you."  
  
"Oh well, better luck next time, heh heh." Tai gloated from his place above Davis. Matt chucked a pillow at him, which Tai caught and threw back.  
  
"I think we should hit the hay. The others are already out." TK said, nodding over at the sleeping Cody, Izzy, Joe, and Brock (and their partners). "Besides, if tomorrow is just as tough, I wanna get some sleep, or I'll be running with my eyes closed." TK jumped into his and Matt's bunk bed, while the others did the same. When all of them were in their comfy beds, they realized that the light was still on. Everyone was too lazy to get up, so they started volunteering each other to turn it off.  
  
"You do it, Davis. Your the leader." Veemon said.  
  
"What? Tai's the leader, when he's around. He should do it."  
  
"Can you get that Agumon? Thanks." Tai said.  
  
"You do it, Gabumon. Your closer." Agumon said.  
  
"Ash should do it. He's the new guy." replied Gabumon  
  
"I'M the new guy? You're in my world, so you're all the new guys."  
  
"Grrrr...THUNDER SHOCK!" Pikachu shouted, shooting a Thunder Shock at the light bulb, as well as the talkers. They screamed as electric current passed through them, and each dropped back to their beds with a THUNK.  
  
Tai groaned. "Ouch...I feel sorry for you, Ash..."  
  
"I think we all do." Matt said through his pillow.  
  
"Don't make me do it again." Pikachu said from his part of Ash's bed. Everybody went silent, and sleep started to sink in.  
  
A laugh was heard from one of the bottom bunks, and Davis could be heard trying to shoosh Veemon. The others started laughing as well, for no reason, trying to keep it down. "I'm serious..."Pikachu laughed. A laughing fit started in the dark room, which lasted until Pikachu started to crackle like a freaky night-light. Everyone went silent again, and this time the silence lasted through the night.  
  
****  
  
"So Misty, what's it like living the life of a wanderer?" Yolei asked from her bunk. "Must be great. Not having a care in the world. Nothing to tie you down.  
  
"When you put it that way, I guess it is. But there's more to it than that." Misty replied as she rocked Togepi to sleep.  
  
Sora looked up, then continued to help Mimi with her hair for the night. Kari sat over by Misty, saying "So how did you and Ash meet? Do you come from the same town?"  
  
Misty laughed. "Well, actually no. Our very first meeting was just outside of his home town."   
  
"Oh really? What were you doing?" Palmon asked.  
  
"Well, I was fishing, but Ash was being his usual self, getting into trouble. He had gotten a flock of spearow angry, and they had chased him and Pikachu."  
  
"Did you save them?" Yolei said, leaning over from her top bunk-bed.  
  
"No! Ash stole my bike and rode away to try and get to town to help Pikachu. He ended up breaking it! In fact, he STILL owes me for that bike!"  
  
Kari laughed. "Well, it sounds like you two have become friends since then."  
  
Misty smiled. "...yeah. He's hard not to become friends with. He just has that kind of personality."  
  
"What do you mean?" Gatomon asked, opening her eyes as if she were just waking up, even though she probably had been listening the whole time.  
  
"Well...Ash is the kind of guy who will go and risk his own life to save yours...and he tries his best to do what he thinks is right. He's really brave...or really stupid. Or both."  
  
"Do you like him?" Yolei asked, which caught Misty off guard.  
  
"No! I don't like him!"  
  
"Not even a teensy bit?" Yolei added.  
  
Misty paused for a moment. "Well...okay, maybe a little..." she said, her face turning a bright shade of red. Sora, Mimi, and Kari giggled, while Yolei almost swooned off the bed.   
  
"If he was my boyfriend, I wouldn't let him go!" Yolei said, hugging the air and smiling. "Oh Ash, my hero!"   
  
"Whoa, chill out Yolei. There's a shower over there." Sora said, making the others laugh.   
  
"Well, wouldn't you want a boyfriend who would come to your rescue? Your very own knight in shining armor?" Yolei asked.  
  
Sora smiled, and looked down at Mimi's strands of hair as she combed them and thought. "I suppose it wouldn't be too bad..."  
  
Yolei smiled. "Someone like Tai..." she said, watching Sora's face blush. The others whistled and made cat calls, embarrasing Sora even more.   
  
"Okay then! How about you Kari! I know who your 'knight' is..." Kari froze, and Sora smiled. "Shall I say his name, or do you wanna do it?"  
  
Kari sighed, and took a deep breath. "T.K." The others screamed, and Kari buried her face in her hands out of embarrasement.   
  
"He and you are sooooo cute together!" Mimi said. "Even when you were little, you were a cute looking pair."  
  
Kari blushed, while pointing at Mimi. "And how about you?"  
  
Mimi thought for a while. "My knight... I don't know."  
  
"Oh come on. We know you like someone in the room over there." Yolei said. "I'm guessing he has baby blue eyes..."  
  
"Well, um..." Mimi trailed off.  
  
"Come on! Admit it! You think Matt's a stud!" Yolei said. "Say it! Say it!"  
  
Mimi closed her eyes. "Okay, Matt's a hottie!" The girls screamed while Mimi jumped to her bunk bed. "I just wanna grab him and drag him to America with me!"  
  
"Why Mimi, you animal!" Sora laughed, getting herself ready for bed as well.  
  
"Oh man, I can't believe I said that." Mimi said, covering her head with her blanket.   
  
"You're all nuts." Gatomon said, turning out the lights and going back to her sleeping place. The silence in the room remained for several moments, until...  
  
"Gatomon and Patomon, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S..."  
  
"Shut up Palmon!" Gatomon yelled, causing a round of giggles in the room.  
  



	6. Winged Warriors

Seth tapped the pen on his desk repeatedly, clearly showing his impatience. The computer screen showed hundreds of lines of programming code occuring at break-neck speed, as well as displaying a schematic of a massive, complex satellite system.   
  
"Computer, how long until we're ready to proceed?"  
  
/Time to satellite Delta 2 reprogramming...10 minutes./  
  
"Good god, this is a pain in the ass." Seth swore. "You'd think with just a military encryption code, the satellite hacking procedure would go much faster. My Construct must be having some bad lag today."  
  
Bahaman padded into the room, humming a little tune he picked up from the radio earlier. Walking up next to Seth and rubbing his leg with his head, the little dragon asked, "Hey Seth, when can you and I go to the real world? I can't stop thinking about all the neat stuff we'll get to see. All the trees...the clouds...the sun..."  
  
Seth smiled and patted Bahamon on the head. "Yeah, I'm sorry that I haven't taken you out of the Construct yet, but I have been so busy with school and the satellite reprogramming that I haven't found any freetime either. I promise you that right after this satellite is ready, and I activate the experiment, you and I will head outside. You can enjoy the surroundings while I work. If all goes well, you won't have to fight anyone."  
  
Bahamon smiled and hopped around as he day-dreamed about the real world. The Construct was his home and all, but after spending two days inside, Bahamon was ready to see everything that nature has to offer. Suddenly realizing that he didn't know what to expect, Bahamon tapped Seth's leg with his snout. "Hey Seth?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"What's it feel like to fly through the sky?" Seth smiled and leaned back in his chair, remembering the first day he used the Flight junction on his Chrono Watch. His classmates had all gloated on how they had got the junction for their birthdays, and started holding races where they saw who could fly the highest before being forced to return to Earth before losing too much air. Seth, however, didn't care about being the best flyer. He just wished to be able to fly like a bird.  
  
"If there was anything that could be considered Heaven on Earth...that would be it."   
  
"Really?" Bahamon said with wonder, looking at the wings on his back with a huge smile. "I CAN'T WAIT!" he shouted, hopping onto Seth's lap and licking his face like a spastic dog.  
  
Seth laughed and playfully pushed Bahamon around. "Hey, cut it out you little monster!" he laughed. Bahamon eventually stopped, and snuggled into a comfortable position on Seth's lap. Being as big as a bull dog, Bahamon took up quite a bit of space. As Seth's legs were going completely numb, the computer made a pleasant ringing noise, indicating the sattelite hacking was complete.  
  
"Computer, begin the redirection of the portal."  
  
"Redirection?" Bahamon asked.   
  
Seth absently scratched Bahamon's ears. "I couldn't use the satellite in the Digital World because it is protected by the military. They won't let Digimon leave their universe through a gate, for fear of unleashing various dangers that exist between the Digital World and the Real World. So, I had to activate the rift using the main satellite for that world, and then bounce it through a smaller satellite used for surveillance and recording."  
  
"That sounds complicated." Bahamon said. "What does that mean in English?"  
  
"Basically, I had to go the long way. Instead of going straight into the Digital World, I went to their Real World, and then went through a computer gate that lead to the Digital World. Like the one the digi-destined use, only it will be MUCH bigger."  
  
Bahamon nodded in understanding. "Then we can go now, right? You're finished?"  
  
"Almost. Just one last program to turn on." Seth said, making Bahamon sigh sadly. "It's okay. Watch, it will be real quick. All I do is push the button, and let it run. I don't have to sit here like the other time." Seth pushed the button, and the computer answered:  
  
/Satellite pulse signal in effect./  
  
"Yay!" Bahamon cheered. "Big blue sky, here we come!"  
  
"Heh heh, okay, let me get up so we can use my Teleport junction."   
  
"Okay." Bahamon said, leaping off Seth's lap and waiting happily behind his chair. Seth stood up and took a step...before falling flat on his face.  
  
"...Leg's are numb?" Bahamon asked, smiling.  
  
Seth grumbled and wiggled his legs around a little before managing to stand up. "Yeah...Alright, here we go. Grab on."   
  
Bahamon wrapped his tail around Seth's ankle, while Seth pushed a series of buttons on his Watch, while holding it up near his head. The watch glowed, and the two disappeared in a flash of light.  
  
****  
  
Mewtwo's eyes snapped open as an alarm flashed on the main screen. He looked up from the chair where he had fallen asleep, noting that it was 3 AM. The pokemon groaned and mentally activated the needed commands to show what was going on. Mewtwo's eyes widened as the data flashed on the screen, and he instantly triggered a series of switches, as well as calling to the others telepathically...  
  
"Children, wake up!" Mewtwo shouted telepathically. From down the hall, several screams could be heard, as well as some swearing as several kids fell off of top bunks in the rush to get up. "We have a big situation."  
  
"What's the problem man! What time is it?" Davis shouted as Mewtwo whipped open the doors. Girls and guys screamed in annoyance as they tried to get dressed as fast as possible. Matt came out half-dressed, Davis in just his boxers, while the others were more or less fully clothed. Had it not been three in the morning, the others might have teased the two for not covering themselves better.  
  
"There's a problem. Seth has officially started his experiment."  
  
"So? As long as he's playing around in his lab, who cares? He can't hurt anybody from there." Ash said, rubbing his tired eyes.  
  
"What's that sound?" Pikachu said, his ears perking up as if to listen better. The kids listened as well, but couldn't quite make out the loud rumbling they heard.  
  
"What is that?" Ash said.  
  
"It sounds like a machine is powering up." added TK.  
  
"The island's static barrier is activating to protect the pokemon." Mewtwo said.  
  
"Protect them from what?" asked Gatomon, eyeing Pikachu, who was shaking his head like he was trying to clear his thoughts.  
  
"Come with me to the lab and I'll show you." said Mewtwo, flying quickly to the main room. The others followed as fast as they could, and at the same time Davis managed to put some pants on before joining the others.  
  
Everyone looked at the hologram in the room's center, and saw a pulsing wave that seemed to sweep over a digital replica of the Earth.   
  
"What is that?" asked Tai.  
  
"It looks like a signal." Izzy answered. "But where is it coming from? And what is it doing?"  
  
Mewtwo nodded. "This signal that's sweeping the globe is triggering the instinctual responses of all the pokemon, making them follow the signal to its source...the wormhole."  
  
"Instinctual responses? How can he trigger a response like that with a signal?" Brock said, stepping up to the hologram to get a better look.  
  
"Do you remember what happened when Lugia awoke, and the three legendary birds of Fire, Ice, and Lightning warred?" Mewtwo asked.  
  
"Definitely." Ash said. "The pokemon from all over the world gathered at the three islands, because they felt that they had to help somehow."  
  
"Exactly. And that is what this signal is doing. It is tricking the pokemon into following the signal, by making them think they must attack what's on the other side of the rift. They think the creatures on the other side are trying to destroy this planet. Seth is gathering them all at the rift, so that he can manipulate them into attacking the digital world."  
  
"We have to do something then, and fast!" Agumon said.   
  
"The instant I step out there, I'll be under Seth's influence." Pikachu said. "Even now, I can hear the signal. It's getting on my nerves."  
  
"The same goes for all the pokemon." Brock said.   
  
"That's okay. We can handle a bunch of pokemon." Tai said. "The digimon will just digivolve to their highest levels."  
  
"Tai, I don't think WarGreymon can fight a thousand smaller, faster pokemon." Agumon said.  
  
"More like millions of smaller, faster pokemon..." Tentomon added.  
  
"...who each possess more abilities than you." Mewtwo finished. "Your power and strength won't mean anything in a battle against countless numbers of opponents who can alter their battle strategies instantaneously, thanks to training and natural instinct."  
  
"Can't the signal be blocked?" Kari asked.   
  
"If I don't know the source's true location, I can't block it. The satellite Seth and his 'masters' use has disconnected from my computer, so I can't locate it." Mewtwo said. "However, I can give your pokemon little devices to block the signal just for them."  
  
"Do it! We've got no time to waste!" Matt said.   
  
Mewtwo held his hands up, and a horde of little rings flew out from caches in the lab. Each ring approached the pokemon trainers, shrinking into their pokeballs, and apparently attaching to the pokemon stored within. Pikachu's ring hooked up with his Marco Collar, and activated almost instantaneously.   
  
"Again with the dark ring look-alikes..." Yolei muttered.  
  
"Makes you wonder where Mewtwo shops." Mimi said.  
  
Pikachu breathed a sigh of relief. "Ahh...that noise is gone now."  
  
Mewtwo lifted his arm, and one final ring slammed around his wrist and activated. The others looked at him with surprise. He looked back at them, noticing their confusion. "You didn't think I'd let you go by yourself. Seth will no doubt throw his strongest protectors at us. We'll all need to fight."  
  
"Who will guard your island?" Sora asked, knowing how much Mewtwo values his home.  
  
"Dragonite and the Super Pokemon should be able to handle it." Mewtwo answered. "As long as they stay within the boundaries of the static barrier, they won't be affected by the signal." Mewtwo floated into the air, charging up as if to stretch out his mental muscles in anticipation of a tough fight. "Now...are we ready?"  
  
"Yeah!" cheered the others.  
  
"Then let's go!" ordered Mewtwo, lifting his hand towards the ceiling. A massive pathway through the ceiling formed, and Mewtwo shot up into the sky with incredible speed.  
  
"Let's go!" Tai said. "Everyone digivolve!"   
  
The digimon glowed with power as they felt the power flow through them. Each digivolved to their strongest form, taking some time to reach their higher levels, much to Mewtwo's interest.  
  
"Mental Note: Digimon take a VERY long time to get through digivolution with all the time spent saying their names." Mewtwo said, dashing towards the wormhole several miles away.  
  
When the digimon had finished digi-volving, those that could fly gathered up those who couldn't and they all flew out of the hole above, while those that swam dove into the ocean bordering the island and followed just below the flyers. They charged after Mewtwo, and inwardly psyched themselves up to be ready for the battle up ahead.  
  
****  
  
Seth floated next to the massive blue portal, which crackled with lightning and thunder as the power flowing through it forced it to move down closer to sea level. The young man looked down and admired the flocks and herds of pokemon that travelled to his portal, seeking out the invaders they felt were ready to destroy their world.  
  
"Hmm...worked better than I thought." Seth thought. "I guess this won't be too difficult. Once they get within range, the pokemon can enter the rift easily."   
  
Seth heard the sound of laughing, and looked up to see Bahamon dashing through the clouds like a child at a playground. Seth smiled and watched Bahamon's smiling face zoom by, and reminisced on his own youth, when he didn't have the inhibitions he struggled under now. No worries about being liked...about having friends.   
  
"Kids have all the fun." Seth said, sighing. "Oh well. I suppose organizing a massive army of pokemon to test against the digimon is fun enough."  
  
/Warning. Warning. Pre-identified intruder within one mile of current position, and closing...followed by the 14 pre-identified human life signs, and several nonhuman life forms./   
  
Seth looked at his Watch, growling. "Damn it Mewtwo. I knew you would do this..." Seth sighed, and called out to Bahamon as loud as he could. "I guess the little guy will have to cut his fun a little short..."  
  
Bahamon flew to Seth, his face covered in rainwater from the clouds. "Hey Seth, what's up?!" he said quickly.  
  
"We have trouble. Mewtwo and the kids are here." Seth said. Bahamon frowned, not in the mood to hurt anything, not even a fly.  
  
"So you want me to keep them away?" Bahamon asked.   
  
Seth nodded. "Yeah, but you'll need help. Even you can't take on all of them."  
  
"Who's helping me?" asked Bahamon. "That big Gengar you caught?"  
  
Seth shook his head no. "That guy is my last resort. To help you out, I've borrowed some...friends, of Ash's." Seth held up his Watch to his mouth, and contacted his computer system. "Computer, activate Napster File named 'Lugia's Song, Modified'.   
  
"Lugia's Song? What does that do?" Bahamon asked.  
  
"It tames the heart of the three legendary beasts, and calls the fourth out of its slumber. And, I might add, it makes it much easier to manipulate them all when I play it in synch with my signal.  
  
"Hence, 'modified'?" Bahamon said.  
  
"Exactly." answered Seth, as the song began to play.  
  
****  
  
The soft, soothing music floated over the skies, touching the ears of everyone on Planet Earth. The sound wasn't loud, but it could be heard by everyone, as if it were being played by a flute only feet away. Everyone found it odd, but weren't affected by it.  
  
Only four beings were affected by it. The song touched their hearts, loosening the grip their consciousness had on them. The four legendary pokemon felt their minds drifting into a dream...yet their bodies remained awake.  
  
Lugia, the beast of the sea, struggled to resist. "...What is happening? My song...it's been corrupted somehow...I...can't...fight it...." The calls of the three other legendary birds soared through the air, in response to the dark call of this new song. "We... must... fight.... but.... I can't..."   
  
Soon, the beast of the sea surged above the waves, showing his full power to the world. Lugia and the three legendary birds were caught, yet they were never touched by a pokeball.  
  
****  
  
/Pre-identified targets will arrive in 30 seconds./, Seth's computer said through its link to his Watch. /Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are approaching from the south./  
  
"Okay Bahamon. Your turn." Seth said, clicking some buttons on his Watch.  
  
"Ready." Bahamon said, hovering before Seth.  
  
High above the atmosphere of the planet, farther away than any other satellite orbitting the planet, an invisible satellite launched a blast of power towards Earth. The beam travelled quickly through the atmosphere, swirling in a downward spiral towards Bahamon, until eventually enclosing the little digimon.  
  
"Bahamon, warp digivolve to... Neuromon!" the little dragon digimon instantly grew into a powerful looking humanoid dragon. His scales became a deep gold, and his wings grew to a wingspan nearing fifty feet. The dragon's body was covered in strange looking armor with a reddish color, and his body hummed with power. Soon, the massive digimon was joined by the four legendary pokemon of Water, Fire, Ice, and Lightning. Each held a look much different than their normal look. Rather than the distant, somewhat cocky appearance they normally held, the four looked as if they were nothing but trained dogs ready to attack at their master's next command.  
  
Seth smiled at his creation, and pointed in the direction of the approaching Mewtwo and the kids. "They'll be over there. All of you do your best to keep them away from the portal until all the pokemon are on the other side."   
  
"You got it Seth." Neuromon said, flying over with the four birds in a V-pattern, with Neuromon leading the flock.  
  
As the first of the pokemon began to enter the wormhole, Seth smiled. "Yes...it's working! The subjects will enter the Digital World, and the preparations for the second satellite will be finished. Once I've hacked into the Digital World, my signal will start a battle on a scale higher than ever thought possible. And then, the mystery will finally be solved..."  
  
****  
  
CHANNEL 45 NEWS  
"This is an emergency broadcast, on all stations. We have an emergency. For the last few minutes, pokemon all over the world have been flocking towards the Pacific Ocean, where the massive blue anomaly in the sky formed only a day before. As if in response to a call just like the weather disaster that occured a few months ago, the pokemon are entering the massive anomaly against the wills of their trainers. Scientists estimate that within ten minutes, all the pokemon on the planet will have migrated into the anomaly to places unknown. Researchers from all over the globe are working feverishly to find out how to reverse the process ."  
  
"This is horrible!" Mrs. Ketchum said. "What'll happen if all the pokemon disappear, Professor?"  
  
Professor Oak looked at the newscast with deep concern. "I'm afraid we humans won't be able to survive without the pokemon. Without their intervention in nature's various processes, the global ecology won't be able to continue. Plants will die out, and soon we will follow."  
  
Mrs. Ketchum clutched her hands tightly as she thought of her son being out there, somewhere- most likely trying to stop this disaster with his friends. "Do you think there is a way to stop this?"  
  
Professor Oak nodded. "I hope there is. Otherwise we're all in big trouble."  
  
"...Good luck, Ash. I know you can do it."  
  
****  
  
Mewtwo caught sight of several beings up ahead. Squinting just to make sure that he wasn't imagining anything, Mewtwo confirmed what he saw with Garudamon. Her bird-like vision would be more than match for his advanced senses.  
  
"Garudamon. What do you see up ahead?"  
  
Looking ahead, and trying to avoid the glare of the massive blue portal and the sun just now rising in the east, Garudamon answered. "Well, if you must know, I see four weird looking birds, and a big dragon that is wearing armor."  
  
"Well, at least I'm not seeing things." Mewtwo said.  
  
"Who are they?!" shouted Sora from Garudamon's hand. "Are they pokemon?!"  
  
"The four birds are the legendary pokemon. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia."  
  
"Lugia?! Why is he there?!" yelled Ash from the same hand. "How come the legendary pokemon are there?!"  
  
"They should still be asleep. The signal couldn't have reached them, and they have enough will to resist it, just like Mewtwo could." Pikachu shouted, again from the same hand.  
  
"It must have been Lugia's song. The one that we heard on the way here." Misty said. "That must be why Seth was playing it."  
  
"The song stripped away their mental defenses, and opened their hearts up to Seth's hypnotic signal." Mewtwo said. "That is how we were going to capture them before...when we were just starting the experiment."  
  
"Then you knew he would do this?!" Sora shouted.  
  
"I wasn't sure. I didn't think Seth would go so far as to risk the lives of these creatures." Mewtwo answered.  
  
"I don't think the Legendary birds are worried about getting hurt by us!" Ash yelled.  
  
"If they get in my way, they'll have a lot to be worried about..." Mewtwo said ominously as they quickly approached the point where the five stood.  
  
The evolved digimon floated quietly , with their digidestined partners in their hands or on their backs. Ash and Pikachu remained in Garudamon's hand, while Misty rode with Matt on MetalGarurumon, and Brock sat on Zudomon with Joe just below. Mewtwo floated in front of all of them, staring icily at the armored dragon that he didn't recognize.  
  
"Who are you..." asked WarGreymon.  
  
"You can call me Neuromon." said the mysterious digimon. "I'm here to make sure you don't mess up Seth's experiment."  
  
"You're actually helping that lunatic?" MetalGarurumon asked, growling as if to punctuate his sentence.  
  
Neuromon growled as well. "He isn't a lunatic. He's just misunderstood. He's doing this for those he calls 'master'."  
  
"So he's risking all the pokemons' and digimons' lives just for his experiment?!" MagnaAngemon said angrily.  
  
"You'd better turn back now, or else you'll suffer the consequences." Neuromon said, clenching his fists.   
  
"You don't scare us!" Ash yelled, pulling out Charizard's pokeball.   
  
"Yeah, you're just a bully!" Misty shouted, finding Staryu's pokeball.  
  
"Right!" Brock added, taking out Zubat's ball.  
  
Neuromon smiled from under the face plate covering his draconian snout, snorting in anger. "I don't want to hurt any of you, but if you don't go away now, you're asking for trouble."  
  
Mewtwo's fists clenched, and his fists powered up with energy. "I was just about to say the same thing to you and your 'friends'."   
  
Neuromon smiled and floated scant feet away from Mewtwo, who was a fourth his height, and perhaps a twelth his weight. Mewtwo's eyes glowed with blue energy, as if to show that he wasn't intimidated.   
  
"You know you can't win, Mewtwo. These birds are equal to Mega-digimon even without their powers, and I am specially built to take you on. This battle will end with your deaths if you don't back off."  
  
Mewtwo's eyes focused with rage, and the psychic pokemon lashed out with a mighty blast of mental force that sent the unprepared Neuromon flying through the clouds. The legendary birds rushed into action, surrounding their targets as the digimon flew into action, and Mewtwo pursued the massive dragon.  
  
"I choose you, Charizard!" shouted Ash, leaping into the air as Charizard left his pokeball. Landing on Charizard's back, the two charged Articuno, knowing the ice being would have a weakness to fire. "Flamethrower!" As Charizard launched his attack, WarGreymon powered up his Terra Force attack, and unleashed it at the Ice bird, who flew past it with incredible speed.  
  
"Come out, Staryu!" yelled Misty. "Give it your all against Moltres!" The large, purple starfish appeared, and sprayed water attacks at Moltres as soon as it flew close enough. Zudomon and Submarimon attacked with their special attacks as well, missing the agile Moltres. The Legendary bird of Fire shot a huge wave of fiery energy at Zudomon, who felt the full force of the attack since he was too big and slow to dodge. The digimon's shell protected him and his partner Joe, but he didn't escape unscathed.  
  
"Go, Zubat! Use Super sonic to confuse the birds!" shouted Brock. The bat pokemon Zubat zoomed out of his pokeball, flying quickly around the nearest bird, Zapdos. The Lightning bird seemed to lose control for a moment, and instinctively retaliated with a blast of electricity. The shot went wild, and rather than hitting Zubat, the stray blast zoomed towards Garudamon, who was busy trying to get a clean hit on Lugia.  
  
"Garudamon! 9 o'clock!" Sora shouted.  
  
"I got it! Thunder Shock!!" shouted Pikachu, leaping into the air towards the stray lightning. Although the Thunder Shock was too weak to fully counter the blast, Pikachu's body handled the rest. Pikachu screamed in pain as his body's energy overloaded. The nearest combatants were forced to shield their eyes, until finally Pikachu fell back to where Sora was. Catching Pikachu, she quickly checked his pulse as Garudamon launched a Wing Blade attack at Lugia, knocking him into a spiral towards the water below.  
  
"Pikachu?! Pikachu!" Sora said, shaking the little pokemon. "Please be okay!"  
  
Pikachu coughed and opened his eyes, looking around. "You okay?"  
  
Sora smiled. "Yeah. Good job."  
  
"Thank me later, we've gotta keep fighting!" Pikachu said, pointing down to the newly enraged Lugia, who unleashed a powerful Hyper Beam attack directly at Garudamon's back. The digimon cried out in pain, and nearly dropped the two in her hands, but managed to hang on to them. Turning around to face Lugia, the two continued to battle.  
  
****  
  
"Dreams of God!!" shouted Neuromon, unleashing what looked like a wave of psychic power on an incredible magnitude. The wave focused in on Mewtwo, who was slammed by the incredible telekinetic force that could decimate a large city. The powerful energies exploded on impact, shaking the surrounding air with sonic booms and incredible fireworks that knocked all the other combatants off course momentarily.  
  
Neuromon smiled, but as the smoke cleared, his smile quickly changed to a frown when he saw that Mewtwo remained. The pokemon's arms were folded in front of his face in an 'X', and his body was surrounded by a purple, glowing bubble of energy, which quickly disappeared after its energy was expended.  
  
Neuromon growled angrily. "You think you're so tough, huh?! Well, take this!!!" shouted the digimon, slamming his massive claws into the smaller pokemon repeatedly. Mewtwo was knocked side to side as the claws tore into him. With three giant gash marks across his body, Mewtwo lost his focus and failed to notice a massive fist flying at him. Neuromon's fist slammed into Mewtwo from above, smashing the pokemon towards the clouds below.  
  
"That'll show him." said the angry Neuromon.  
  
An onrush of air behind Neuromon. "What the...." said Neuromon as a sound of a steadily increasing hum appeared as well. Turning rapidly, Neuromon saw the face of a really pissed-off Mewtwo just before the pokemon launched a full-force telekinesis blast right at Neuromon. The armored mega-digimon screamed as his chest plate actually cracked under the force of the blast, and felt the first taste of fear he had ever known. Neuromon took quick solace in the fact that if pokemon attacks were anything like digimon attacks, they wouldn't be able to do another attack for a while, leaving Mewtwo vulnerable.  
  
Neuromon smiled. "That attack of yours had some sting to it, but even at full power, you couldn't break my armor entirely." Neuromon rammed his shoulder into Mewtwo, managing to hit the quick, but weakened target. As Mewtwo fell, Neuromon powered up and shouted "Dreams of God!!". Again, the force exploded from Neuromon, focusing in on Mewtwo as several beams of psychic energy. The stunned Mewtwo was slammed towards the ocean by the dozens of beams, and below the water exploded as the energies reacted.  
  
"Heh heh. Too simple." said Neuromon, who flapped his wings and zipped to the remaining battle.  
  
****  
  
"They aren't coming back up!" shouted Tai. "The birds are getting too weak to continue the fight!"  
  
"But so are we, Tai!" WarGreymon said. "The armor digimon are hanging on by a thread, and the ultimates are exhausted. Even MetalGarurumon and I are feeling the burn..."  
  
"We can't give up yet!" Ash said from Charizard's back. "As long as the birds are flying, they're dangerous. Anytime now, they may return to full strength if we're not careful. As much as it pains me to say it...we have to make sure Lugia can't fight anymore."  
  
"Then let's finish the job!" Tai yelled. "You up for it Matt?" he said to the other boy several yards away on MetalGarurumon's back.  
  
"No problem!" Matt answered. "You ready MetalGarurumon?"   
  
The mega-digimon growled in affirmation.  
  
"Then let's go!" Tai yelled.   
  
SLAM!!!! A huge wave of force swept through the lines of digimon and pokemon, sending the weakened armor digimon into the sea, and knocking the ultimate and mega digimon off balance. Ash and Charizard managed to avoid the full force of the blast, but they couldn't say the same for the others, who fell into the water. Luckily, Zudomon and Submarimon were there to gather the Rookie digimon and their partners up.  
  
"What was that?!" yelled Lillymon.  
  
"I don't know!" shouted MegaKabuterimon.  
  
Neuromon flew in between the two digimon and quickly powered up. "Why don't you find out for yourself?!" Neuromon unleashed a blast of energy that slammed into Lillymon's and MegaKabuterimon's chest, sending them down to the sea as Palmon and Tentomon. Mimi and Izzy jumped from Zudomon's back and swam out to rescue there friends, while the remaining fighters Tai, Sora, Ash and Matt attacked Neuromon.  
  
"Charizard, use Dragon Rage, then Tackle!" shouted Ash. Charizard's body became enveloped in a red aura, and the pokemon zoomed at the slower Neuromon. As Charizard collided with the mega-digimon, Neuromon lost his balance, but was unharmed. That was all that the others needed. "Now guys!" Ash shouted.  
  
"TERRA FORCE!"  
  
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"  
  
"WING BLADE!"  
  
Pikachu finished it up with the strongest Thunder shock he could muster. Neuromon shouted in anger and pain as the mega-digimon was slammed with several attacks. His armored plate shattered, revealing red dragon scales with scorch marks, but no damage. Neuromon growled and slashed at Charizard, who easily avoided the attacks from the bigger, but slower opponent.  
  
"Grrrr....hit them!" shouted Neuromon. Soon, the four weakened legendary birds unleashed their attacks as one massive elemental assault that slammed into MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon. The two mega-digimon shouted in pain, and finally couldn't handle the strain anymore. With no energy left in their bodies, they fell to the water below, leaving Ash and Sora.  
  
"Ash, we've gotta give the others time to retreat!" Sora yelled.   
  
Ash nodded. "Right! Pikachu, Thunder Shock! Charizard, Ember!" The electric rodent created another massive surge of power, managing to damage the lead bird Lugia, while Charizard's pumped-up Ember attack swirled around the weakened birds. Garudamon followed it up with another Wing Blade, which exploded within the Ember as it spun like a tornado. The birds' charred but living bodies fell to the water below, barely concious.   
  
Neuromon growled. "You'll pay for that!" The massive dragon swooped up to Garudamon, grabbing the wings of Sora's digimon. Garudamon punched Neuromon and tried to force him away, but Garudamon was not strong enough to take on a mega-digimon...even though he was weakened.  
  
"Sora!! Get out of there!" shouted Tai as loud as he could. "SORA!!" Sora looked around from her spot on Garudamon, but she couldn't let go. She didn't want to leave her friend.   
  
Charizard tackled the back of Neuromon, forcing him away from Garudamon, but only damaging him a little. Neuromon swung his balled fist behind him, managing to slam into Charizard. Ash knew that the water would mean Charizard's death, so he quickly had Charizard return to his pokeball. Ash slammed into the water, and lost conciousness as Submarimon came to his aid.  
  
Neuromon turned to Garudamon, saying "And then there was one." Neuromon started to power up for his attack, while Garudamon slammed her fists futilely at the mega-digimon's thick hide.  
  
"SORA! NO!!!" Tai shouted. "Garudamon, get out of there, before-"  
  
"Dream of God!!!" shouted Neuromon, unleashing the full force of the attack at Garudamon. Sora screamed and held onto Garudamon, hoping that she wouldn't let go even if she were to die, as a sudden rush of air sounded in her ears.  
  
"NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Tai, falling to his knees as the attack left Neuromon's body.  
  
"Wait, Tai, look!!" Agumon shouted, pointing up. Tai's gaze fell up as the energies of the attack seemed to freeze in front of Garudamon.  
  
"What the...it can't be!" Neuromon shouted, as the energies of his own attack were seemingly stopped dead in its tracks. Neuromon stared in horror as the sillohuette of Mewtwo became apparent in front of Garudamon (who had assumed a defensive position around Sora). Mewtwo lifted his wounded arm, and the massive energy wave did the same, swirling around his outstretched hand.  
  
"Let's see how you fair against your own attack at double strength." Mewtwo said simply. A quick burst of blue flame surged around Mewtwo, and the power of the attack doubled as it was launched back at Neuromon.   
  
"AGGHHHH!!!" shouted Neuromon as his own attack exploded around him. The roar of the explosion was deafening, and the blinding light made the sun look like a cheap lamp. Neuromon fell to the water as a smoking, partly charred Bahamon, who quickly flew as fast as his little wings could carry him towards the direction where Seth was, as did the four legendary birds.   
  
As they flew away, the remaining warriors watched in awe as the massive blue portal seemed to close in a brilliant flash of light and sound. Mewtwo floated forward weakly, looking at the place where the wormhole was. His head sagging and his hands clenched into tight fists, the pokemon let out his rage in a hellish scream that echoed across the skies. It was stopped only by the white clouds that lazily crawled over the ocean.  
  



	7. Recovery

"Nngh....I feel like I've just been hit by a train." Gatomon said as they entered the lab once again.   
  
"You practically were." Kari replied. "Neuromon is one tough digimon."  
  
"One of the strongest I've ever seen." added Tai. "He could hang out with the Dark Masters, if they were still around."  
  
"Doesn't sound like that would be a good thing." said Misty.  
  
"And what about those birds? Those were pokemon?!" Yolei said with disbelief.   
  
"They're the only ones of their kind." Brock answered. "That's why they're so tough."  
  
"And that's why we lost." Ash groaned. The pokemon trainer stretched his arm around to try and help get rid of the aches and pains in his body after falling into the ocean from so high in the air.  
  
"Their strength had nothing to do with them winning." Mewtwo mumbled as he stumbled into the lab, still wounded from the battle and not in the best of moods. All the way back, he had been silent. Nobody dared ask him if he was alright, seeing as how mad he was that they failed in stopping Seth. "It was simply a matter of better organization and foresight. Seth knew the battle would occur over water, thus taking away many of our potential combatants, while giving the legendary birds the advantage. They knew the best way to fight us."  
  
"What do you mean 'better organization and foresight'?" said Davis angrily. "Those guys took out all of us when we outnumbered them 3 to 1!"  
  
Mewtwo growled and slammed a telekinetic 'fist' into the ground, shattering a sizeable section of his marble floor, and startling the others enough to make them scream. When the shards of the ground finished falling, the others could see Mewtwo's eyes burning with rage. The digimon instictively got in front of their respective partners, and Pikachu charged up in anticipation of a battle.  
  
The steady hum of Mewtwo's power receded, and the bluish light that surrounded him dimmed to nothing. Speaking softly, yet with a definite tone of anger in it, the pokemon said, "They are not stronger. We didn't have an overall strategy. They did. They divided us up, and finished each of us off methodically. Brains won this battle- not muscle."  
  
The kids were still a little scared from Mewtwo's sudden outburst, but they and their nonhuman partners let their guard drop, although they still weren't too sure if he was going to hurt any of them. Mewtwo remained visibly angry however, finishing with, "They may have won this battle, but the war is not over. Seth has only brought the two species together. We still have at least a day until he can implement the final stage of his experiment."  
  
"Then what? Without that big blue thing in the sky, we can't go to our world." Agumon said. "Unless you have a way to get there."  
  
"...ask me again tomorrow, once you have all finished resting." Mewtwo said, walking down towards his lab.  
  
"And what about you?!" yelled Biyomon as Mewtwo shut the massive doorway mentally, leaving them to their own devices.  
  
"Man, I hate that thing." Davis said, walking back to their room. "Always so secretive, and acting all big and bad."  
  
"That 'thing' saved our lives." TK said. "He managed to stand up to that mega-digimon, when our digimon were unable to beat him."  
  
"He also saved Sora's and Biyomon's lives." Matt added. "I don't know how, or why, but he protected you two, at the risk of his own life."   
  
"...Yeah...he did.", Sora said, as if she weren't paying attention, but lost in her own thoughts. Biyomon looked with concern at her friend.  
  
"Well, at least we can sleep now." Veemon said. "Next time we'll teach those overgrown parrots a lesson!"   
  
"You said it, Veemon!" cheered Davis. "We'll show 'em next time!"  
  
****  
  
"...And that's the whole story." Bahamon said. Seth frowned as the digimon finished relating his discription of the battle. Seth was glad that the first stage had been completed, but it was too close for comfort.  
  
"I could see Mewtwo at the portal. He was ready to blast me into nonexistence." Seth said, obviously angry at being so close to the pokemon. "So, that means that not only did you fail in keeping him away...you had the chance to destroy him after he came back, and yet he ended up destroying Neuromon?"  
  
Bahamon nodded nervously, but maintained his cute, innocent smile. "Uh huh."  
  
Seth paced towards the computer, not saying anything for a while. He rapped his fingers on the computer console before him, staring at the screen where the satellite schematics continued to swirl.   
  
"Um...Seth, are you okay?" Bahamon asked. "I'm sorry if I'm not good enough for you, but I tried my very best."   
  
Seth turned around and leaned against the massive computer terminal. "I know you did..."  
  
"...Are you mad at me?" the little digimon asked, backing away with a look of fear in his face, and little tears forming in his eyes. "I didn't mean to make you mad..."  
  
Seth shook his head no. "I'm just annoyed is all."  
  
Bahamon breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled. "I'm glad. I never ever want to make you sad." the digimon said in his childish voice.  
  
Seth smiled. "I'm glad. Hey, could you do me a favor?"  
  
Bahamon hopped up and down. "Anything to make you feel better!"  
  
"Could you stand on that lighted circle in the middle of the room?" said Seth, turning to the computer terminal.  
  
Bahamon did as he was asked, remembering that he was 'born' here only days before. "What are we going to do? Something fun?"  
  
"Computer, delete file 'Bahamon' now."  
  
"Huh?!" Bahamon's little face instantly filled with shock as his body dematerialized into digital particles, and eventually disissapated into nothing. All that was left was the echoes of a final scream from the little digimon.  
  
"Well, now that that's out of the way, time to make a better weapon." Seth said, tapping his fingers on the terminal. "...Computer, turn on Napster file 'all.m3u', please. Track 6." Instantly, the song "Man Overboard" by Blink 182 played over the speakers in the lab. As the song played, Seth loaded his program to make a new digimon, and sung along with Blink 182..  
  
"So sorry....it's over....so sorry....it's over...."  
  
****  
  
Mewtwo paced around the lab, ignoring his exhaustion out of habit. He couldn't forget the battle...he couldn't get it out of his mind...  
  
Mewtwo activated the automated recorder, and began to speak. "December 22nd, 2000. Today, we engaged in a battle with Seth's minions...namely, the four legendary birds. The battle ended with Seth's transporation of the pokemon being completed, but we survived, and the digimon named Neuromon was defeated.". The pokemon paced, still feeling something inside that was annoying him to no end.   
  
["Sora!! Get out of there!" shouted Tai as loud as he could. "SORA!!" Sora looked around from her spot on Garudamon, but she couldn't let go. She didn't want to leave her friend. ]  
  
"I could hear their cries in my mind..." Mewtwo thought.   
  
[Neuromon turned to Garudamon, saying "And then there was one." Neuromon started to power up for his attack, while Garudamon slammed her fists futilely at the mega-digimon's thick hide.]  
  
"I was on my way to attack Seth. He was undefended, and his eyes locked with mine when he saw that I had made my way to him. As I charged up for an attack to destroy him and his Watch that controlled his machines, I was distracted by my thoughts..."  
  
["SORA! NO!!!" Tai shouted. "Garudamon, get out of there, before-"  
  
"Dream of God!!!" shouted Neuromon, unleashing the full force of the attack at Garudamon. Sora screamed and held onto Garudamon, hoping that she wouldn't let go even if she were to die...]  
  
"Instinct took over. I teleported to where I sensed Sora to be, and brought my powers to the limit. It hurt like nothing I had ever felt before...as if my body were being held inside a fiery furnace."  
  
["NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Tai, falling to his knees as the attack left Neuromon's body.  
  
"Wait, Tai, look!!" Agumon shouted, pointing up. Tai's gaze fell up as the energies of the attack seemed to freeze in front of Garudamon.  
  
"What the...it can't be!" Neuromon shouted, as the energies of his own attack were seemingly stopped dead in its tracks. Neuromon stared in horror as the sillohuette of Mewtwo became apparent in front of Garudamon...]  
  
"Nobody could believe that I was diverting the power of a mega-digimon's primary attack. I didn't care about that detail. I was focused on destroying Neuromon, for trying to hurt Sora."  
  
[Mewtwo lifted his wounded arm, and the massive energy wave did the same, swirling around his outstretched hand.  
  
"Let's see how you fair against your own attack at double strength." Mewtwo said simply. A quick burst of blue flame surged around Mewtwo, and the power of the attack doubled as it was launched back at Neuromon.]  
  
"Never in my short life, have I ever felt the need to help a human. The situation with Ash and his friends showed me the nature of humanity and their connection to pokemon, when Ash was returned to life with their tears. However, even then I held a hatred for humans...for wanting to create something as horrible as me for the simple purpose of fighting."  
  
Mewtwo turned to the computer terminal, where data from the battle today was being inputed through the minicomputers in his wristband that protected him from the signal.  
  
"Perhaps, today, for the first time ever, my instinct as a pokemon awakened. For one moment in time...I was willing to die for one human. For the girl that tried to help me when I was sad. For Sora." After a long pause, Mewtwo ended the recorder, and floated towards his private chambers, unaware of the other presence in the room.  
  
"Mewtwo?" said Sora from the shadows, making Mewtwo cringe in mid-flight. Slowly turning around, he saw her walk up to the floating pokemon, who looked down at her with an angry stare.  
  
"I thought you were all resting. You may not have been the ones taking the beating, but you must be tired and sore after the fight."   
  
"I know, I just was coming to give you something before I went to take a bath."  
  
Mewtwo floated down to the ground with a suspicious look in his eye. "What is it?"  
  
"This." said Sora as her arms circled around Mewtwo in a crushing hug. Mewtwo cringed, but wasn't sure how to get her off. After several moments though, the pokemon felt his disgust draining away. Slowly, he felt...warmth enter his body.  
  
Sora rested her head on his furry body. "Thank you, for being there."  
  
Mewtwo said nothing, still unsure of how to deal with this. Eventually, Sora released him, allowing Mewtwo to step back a few steps. Sora frowned when she saw his blatant discomfort.   
  
"I'm sorry if I scared you." she said, looking at the ground. "I just wanted to thank you...and make you less lonely. ...I'll go now." slowly Sora turned and walked back down the hall, heading for the girls' bathroom.  
  
Mewtwo watched her walk away, and looked down at the ground in deep thought. Soon, the pokemon turned and headed for his private chambers, wondering if this was a normal feeling for all pokemon towards humans.  
  
****  
  
Misty sighed as she sank into the large, hot bath, feeling the pain in her back melt away. Blowing some bubbles, she soon resurfaced with a full head of wet, bright red hair. Moving it from her face, she watched as the other girls enjoyed the same feeling of total relaxation.  
  
"Ahh....now this is a bath." Kari said.   
  
"It reminds me of our days in the Digital World." Mimi said. "Remember when we found that mansion with a bath just like this?"  
  
Sora nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Only this time, Gomamon won't come floating in."  
  
"... pervert." Yolei said, giggling with the others.  
  
"Aww, I like Gomamon. He's such a cute little guy...and a water digimon too!" Misty said, splashing the purple-haired girl in mock anger. Yolei and Mimi splashed back, and a little splashing war ensued between them all.  
  
"He and Joe are quite the characters." Mimi said. "I remember when Joe was afraid of just about everything. It really got on my nerves at the time, but I can't really talk, since I know that I was kinda annoying myself."  
  
"Now that's the understatement of the century." Sora said, laughing when Mimi stuck her tongue at her.  
  
"It must have been a pain having to spend all that time with each other, like one big family." Yolei said. "I can't stand my family sometimes, but at least I can get away from them when I need to. You guys were stuck with each other for a long time."  
  
"We all had our share of fights. Especially Tai and Matt. They hated each other for the longest time." Sora said.  
  
"What did they fight about?" Misty asked.  
  
"They disagreed with just about everything. Basically, they were both trying to be the leader, and they each had their own way of doing everything."  
  
"That must have been such a pain to listen too for days on end." Kari said. "I know how stubborn Tai can be."   
  
"Ash is the same way." said Misty. "He and I fight all the time, but eventually we make up, and everything's fine until the next argument."  
  
"You sound like you're married." Yolei said, making Misty blush and the others giggle. Another laugh could just barely be heard outside the room, as if someone had ran past the door.  
  
After everyone went silent, Mimi asked "What was that?".  
  
****  
  
Davis and TK couldn't stop laughing as Ash re-entered the boys' bedroom holding an armful of girls' clothes. Tai and Matt rolled over laughing when he triumphantly cast the clothing onto the floor. Pikachu and the digimon had little to say, since they were asleep after being totally exhausted from the battle.  
  
Brock looked up at the commotion, while Izzy made his next move on the chess board they convinced Dragonite to get for them. Cody and Joe, who were watching the game, also turned to the little "Truth or Dare" session the others were having to help get the stress from the day out of their systems.  
  
"Could you guys keep it down? We're trying to concentrate over here." Brock said, trying to stop himself from laughing at the dare Ash just completed.  
  
"You guys are crazy." Joe added.   
  
"Why don't you join us, Joe? You'd be a hoot in this." Tai said, making a spot in their little circle for him. "Sorry Cody, but you're too young for this."  
  
"I'm not stupid enough to play that game anyway." Cody said, watching Izzy move his pawn up a space.  
  
"Sorry guys, but I'm going to have to side with Cody on this one. Besides, the idea of the girls pounding me into oblivion isn't one I'm too keen on."  
  
"Oh, come on. All you have to do is say Truth all the time, and you won't have to do any Dares to the girls." Matt said.   
  
Joe thought for a moment, and the guys in the circle started to chant Joe's name, until finally he relented and sat in the circle (and there was much rejoicing. *Yay...*).  
  
"Okay Ash, your turn." Davis said, being the one to dare him to swipe the bathrobes.  
  
Ash nodded. "Alright. Uhh...TK, truth or dare?"  
  
Being a veteran in this game from countless nights on the road with his basketball team, TK answered. "Dare, of course."  
  
Ash smiled. "Okay...run into the bathroom and give one of the girls a french kiss!"  
  
TK made a devilish grin, making the others laugh. "Anyone in particular?"  
  
"Anyone but Kari!" Davis said quickly.  
  
Ash laughed. "Okay...kiss Kari then." Davis growled and socked Ash in the shoulder, much to the amusement of the others. TK stood and ran out the door as the guys poked their heads out to make sure he did it. TK tiptoed to the door of the girls' bathroom, and gave a thumbs up to the others, who chuckled.  
  
TK yanked the door open and dashed inside. The guys heard lots of screaming, a loud splash, and gasps of disbelief that lasted for several seconds. Soon, a loud slap could be heard, and the guys burst out laughing as TK was brutally kicked out of the room. TK quickly crawled back into the guys room, and the boys quickly blocked the door with the table in the center of the room.  
  
The guys couldn't stop laughing when they saw the red outline of a handprint on TK's face. TK smiled half-heartedly and returned to his seat, massaging his stinging cheek as the others finished their laughing fit.  
  
"I never knew you had it in you, bro!" Matt laughed, patting TK on the back.   
  
"...yeah, me neither." he said, feeling his lips with his fingers dreamily.  
  
"Okay, go TK." said Tai.  
  
TK snapped back into reality and cleared his throat. "Uh, okay. Joe, Truth or Dare?"  
  
Joe cringed. "Err...truth!" he said quickly, as they expected him to.  
  
"Okay, here's a simple one. Of the digi-destined, which are you attracted to the most?"  
  
"Which GIRL are you attracted to the most. Any creepy looks at me and you're dead." Tai said.   
  
"No problem there." Joe said. The boy thought for a while, answering "I guess I'd have to say Mimi. Sora's too much like a sister, and Kari and Yolei are too young for my taste."  
  
"No way? You like Mimi?!" Tai asked. "I wouldn't think of you as her type. She's an annoying little rich girl and you're...you're Joe!"  
  
"She may have been annoying several years ago, but she's grown up since then." Joe said. "She's matured."  
  
"In more ways than one." Matt said, looking at her in his minds' eye with a smile.  
  
Joe frowned when he was reminded that "Mr. Rock Star" liked Mimi too. "I think Mimi's the type that would like a guy who is as kind and sincere as she is, and who could support her with a good job in the future."  
  
"I don't think Mimi has mental capacity to think that far ahead. Her attention span is probably shorter than the time it takes to get into her shirt." Tai joked, making the others burst out laughing.  
  
As the others laughed, Joe clenched his fists and growled. "You guys obviously don't see the real Mimi. All you see is a chest with legs!" Joe said, standing up and walking back to the chess game. The others looked at each other with confusion, wondering why Joe was angry at them for.   
  
"Hey Joe, they're just joking around." said Ash.  
  
"We know there's more to Mimi than her body." TK said. "She's our friend too." Joe turned to them and blinked several times, still not sure what to think.  
  
Matt stood up and walked over to Joe, whispering "I know you want to stand up for Mimi and all, but don't worry, we don't really mean that. It's all just fun and games."  
  
Joe nodded. "...I guess I over-reacted a little..."  
  
Matt patted Joe's shoulder. "Don't worry. We understand. You're Joe- that's the way you are. So you gonna make one of us dance in our boxers or what?"  
  
Joe slowly smiled and walked back into the circle. As he was about to choose his victim, somebody knocked on the bedroom door. Everyone in the circle looked up, while Brock, Izzy, and Cody just laughed at the looks on their faces.   
  
"Uh oh...you're in trouble..." Izzy said mockingly.  
  
Tai stood up and cracked the door open, making sure the table was still secure. Outside Tai could see Sora, Misty, Mimi, Yolei, and Kari in bathrobes. Each had an angry scowl on their face, much to Tai's amusement.   
  
"Uh, hey girls, what's up?" the smiling teen asked.  
  
"Give us our clothes back before we have to get ugly." said Yolei.  
  
"Too late." Ash said, causing the room to fill with laughter.   
  
"Nice try girls. Besides, you can't get past our little barrier here." Tai said, tapping the table reassuringly. Sticking his tongue out, he added "So nyah, nyah!".  
  
"You're so childish, Tai." Sora retaliated. "Besides, we don't have to worry about you and your table. We have Misty."  
  
"What?" said Tai.  
  
"Uh oh..." said Ash.   
  
"Starmie, go!" shouted Misty, allowing the pokemon to leave her pokeball. The brown starfish appeared before Misty, who pointed at the door. "Starmie, open the door!"  
  
"Guys!!" Tai yelled, which brought the others to help keep the door closed. All of them put their shoulders into it, but the pokemon was stronger than them all. The table fell over, and the door flew open, causing the boys to fall into a large pile in the center of the room.  
  
The girls rushed in and grabbed their clothes, and took Ash as well.   
  
"Help me!!" Ash shouted as they dragged him out, giggling.  
  
"Uh oh! He's done for!" Tai said. "You know what happens when the girls capture the guy..."  
  
Mock horror crossed Matt's face. "You mean..."  
  
"Yes. The dreaded Make-up torture!"  
  



	8. Error

Seth stomped into the house, shaking off the remains of the iceballs that were thrown at him just seconds before. The boy looked down at his broken glasses as he entered the house, sighing at the broken lens.  
  
"Guess I shouldn't have let it hit my face." said Seth to himself as he marched down the stairs to his basement room.  
  
"How was your day, Seth?" said a voice from upstairs as she passed the stairway entrance.  
  
"Oh, it was fine Grandma. Just a little accident with my glasses." Seth said, holding up the broken spectacles.  
  
'Grandma' took the glasses, saying "Don't worry. I'll have Grandpa take these to the base and get them fixed."  
  
Seth nodded. "Thanks. I'd better go get started on my homework." he said, hugging his grandmother as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.   
  
"Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes, so I'll ring the bell when it's ready." she said, walking into the kitchen to continue making her tasty Tomato Macoroni.  
  
"Okay, I'll come up when you ring the bell then." said Seth as he walked into his room and closed the door downstairs. Dropping his broken backpack onto the nearby couch, Seth immediately walked to his computer and pulled up the Fanfiction.Net internet site.  
  
Taking a look at his favorite authors list, Seth nodded as the names displayed the new fics for today. "Hmm....Hikari Takaishi...Worldwalker...ArcAngemon...yep, new stories today." he said, sitting down and reading them as he warmed up by the heater.  
  
After reading the fics he had been following, along with some others that caught his eye, Seth looked at the next item on his itinerary. "Hmm...finish Satellite Delta 2 junction. Okay, time to head into the Construct." Holding up his Watch, Seth dematerialized and downloaded his biological energy into his computer modem, taking him to the section of the internet where all the FF.net authors stored their Constructs. As Seth rematerialized in his lab, the digital representations of his mega-computer hummed to life.   
  
/Good evening, Seth Turtle./ said the computer voice as the satellite readings appeared on the screen.  
  
"Computer, what is the current situation with the Digital World Satellite?"  
  
/Delta 2 hacking procedures are 81% complete. The satellite will begin projection of signal 'Rage' in 4 hours, 39 minutes./  
  
"Good. Are all the cambots ready to record the battle data?" Seth asked, sitting at the chair in front of the computer.  
  
/All cambots are in assigned positions, and ready to transmit data at your command./  
  
"...good. Looks like this will work. I just hope my 'masters' consider this conclusive evidence. This is about as conclusive as you can get." This reminded Seth that he hadn't checked the reviews yet on his most recent experiment reports from his cambots, so the boy loaded up his e-mail to find out what his 'masters' think so far.  
  
As Seth looked down the list, it became painfully obvious what they were thinking. "...They actually agree with Mewtwo? That's impossible! I thought there'd be more of them on my case to hurry up with my experiment."  
  
Seth punched up the commands and scanned down the list. "Somebody even complained about Bahamon!" Seth said, clenching his fists. "...well, I'd have to agree there. Bahamon was the only person that didn't assume I was a geek just because I look like one."   
  
Seth deleted the e-mail alerts for the reviews, and switched to his Digimon program. Looking in the files, he found the satellite hook-up and downloaded the information to update his current files.  
  
Seth punched up the current data on Primary Village for use with the Fanfiction authors. "Wormmon came back to Ken...and really quickly I might add." Suddenly Seth was struck with a thought. "Computer, locate 'Bahamon' digital file. Scan all possible folders."  
  
/Digimon identified as 'Bahamon' is nowhere in the Digital World, Real World, or D-World Recycle Bin. Failure to terminate in the Digital World is the most probable cause of this./  
  
Seth tapped the terminal in front of him, getting a worried look on his face. "I never should have done that to him. It's worse than Hell to be trapped in the limbo of the Internet. Seth, you dick, why'd you delete such an innocent creature?!" Seth said, falling back in his chair. After a long, quiet moment, Seth whispered to himself as he looked at his reflection in the screen before him.   
  
"What's happened to me these past few days?" he said to himself, letting his head fall on the keyboard. "I have to stop this now. I don't care what the reviewers think anymore. I can't let this happen any longer. Screw the whole flame war! If they think that one world is better than the other, there's no way I can change their mind with more fighting. Nobody listens to me anyway..." Seth looked at the screen as the search program and the satellite data flashed by. He thought for a moment and finally grunted in approval at his new plan as he tapped his computer keyboard rapidly. "Computer, end the hacking procedure."  
  
/Unable to comply./  
  
"What?!" Seth said. "Close file 'Delta 2', now!"  
  
/Delta 2 is outside your jurisdiction. *zchczhzz* Signal 'Rage' will commence in 4 hours./  
  
"Grr....'user friendly' my ass." Seth grumbled. "Looks like I'll have to hit the source of the problem. But how can I do it by myself?..." Seth stood up and punched a button on his Watch, instantly disappearing in a flash of blue light.  
  
****  
  
Bahamon floated silently, wondering where he had fallen to. The last thing he remembered was seeing his own body splinter into hundreds of bits of information. The 'death' was painless...at least physically. The thought of Seth deleting him was too much for the little digimon to accept.   
  
"...I didn't mean to fail you, Seth." Bahamon cried. "I'd do anything to make you happy. Anything. Your happiness is more important than my life."  
  
"Those words sound familiar." a voice said from the limbo around Bahamon.  
  
"Who's there?!" the little digimon whimpered. "Please! Leave me alone!"  
  
"Don't worry little one. I understand how you feel."  
  
"...What? How could you understand? And better yet, what are you doing here?"  
  
The voice echoed from nowhere, but it sounded very close to Bahamon. "I too have been deleted like you. I lost my life outside the Digital World..." said the voice. "I too am looking for Seth. I understand he is your friend?"  
  
Little Bahamon frowned and started to cry. "Se-*sniff* Seth doesn't like me anymore."  
  
A reassuring hand fell on Bahamon's shoulder...a gloved hand that reminded the digimon of the black gloves Seth wore, now that it was winter. "Don't cry little one. I know it seems that way, but trust me...it's not."  
  
Bahamon wiped the tears off his eyes, looking down at the stranger's face. "It's not?"  
  
"No. Seth may have deleted you, but not because of your actions."  
  
"Not-*sniff*-because of me?"  
  
The stranger shook his head no. "Seth is afraid."  
  
"H-huh? He's scared?" Bahamon whimpered.  
  
"Yes. He's afraid that he's doing all this for nothing." the stranger replied.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bahamon said as he started to calm down.  
  
The stranger floated around until he was suspended a few inches in front of Bahamon. "Seth is trying to prove something to others like him. He want's to make them happy, but he doesn't know how. The conflict is starting to influence his actions...like when he deleted you out of spite."  
  
"...why?" Bahamon said, although he knew the answer already.  
  
"Because Seth feels compassion...more compassion than normal, but is not capable of talking to people, because of his personality."  
  
"Com-compassion?" said Bahamon, not being very good with big words.  
  
The stranger nodded. "Compassion. It is the feeling of deep sympathy for others' misfortune and suffering." The blank look on Bahamon's face told the stranger the little digimon failed to understand. "Let me reword it. It means that Seth hates to see others feel sad or be in pain. Thus, Seth is willing to do whatever it takes to make them happy again...even at the cost of his own life, or his own sanity...like you and me."  
  
"You mean, Seth is trying to make people happy?" Bahamon asked.  
  
"He thinks that if the whole idea of whether pokemon or digimon are better each other were solved, then there would be less arguing among his fellow humans, and less hurt feelings. Although the answer may mean the loss of Seth's sanity from all the pain he must cause us, or the loss of his life at the hands of Mewtwo, he wants this feud to stop."  
  
Bahamon looked down at his feet as the weight of the situation sunk into his naive mind. "So...Seth is trying to find answers."  
  
"Exactly. If Seth can show the people an answer...any answer that would make the fighting stop, he would do anything to get it. Unfortunately, he has forgotten the true answer that he knew all along."  
  
"What answer?"   
  
"That pokemon and digimon are just another species of life. They aren't meant to compete with each other. They weren't meant to be the same. Neither one is a copy of the other. They just happen to be similar, yet the opinions of humans have warped their similarities into a huge argument about which one is a copy of the other...which is better..."  
  
"Then that means that Seth is doing this for nothing?" Bahamon asked the stranger.  
  
"Basically, that's the case. Seth knows it deep inside that even if both worlds were to destroy each other, nobody will accept the answer he gives. People won't change their opinions, since almost everybody thinks they're right. Seth, however, can't stop it now."  
  
"Why not?! He can do it!" Bahamon said, getting defensive of the only human he has ever known.  
  
"Not really. He may have started this all with his little programs, but now that the process is started, he can't stop the countdown. The satellite won't let him. He has tried to stop it while we have been talking."  
  
"How do you know that? And who are you?"  
  
The stranger held out a small, glowing object that bore a strange symbol on it. "Seth and I are both linked to the Crest of Compassion. That is how I can sense him and what he is doing. We are destined to be together."  
  
Bahamon gasped in disbelief, as everything he thought of being true for him and Seth suddenly was destroyed. "Then I'm not his digimon?!" he cried, stepping away from the strange digimon.  
  
"No. I'm sorry, but you weren't meant to be his digimon...at least, not in the way he and I will be." Again, tears welled up in Bahamon's eyes, as he suddenly felt uselessness creep into his heart.   
  
The stranger held his hand out to the little dragon digimon. "Maybe there's something I can do." Bahamon looked up. "Remember when we talked about compassion just now?"  
  
"...*sniff*...yes."  
  
"You are a symbol of compassion too, you know. Just like me, you'd lay down your life for a friend. You hate to see people of any species suffer, but you would fight to alleviate that suffering. Even though Seth mislead you into battling the good guys, you and he both feel compassion for all living beings."  
  
"...I guess." the little digimon said, still not fully understanding everything that the digimon was saying. "*sniff*- What does that mean then?"  
  
The stranger held Bahamon's claw, and their clenched hands started to glow. "That together, we can both become the digimon of Compassion, and we can both save Seth before he is lost forever."  
  
****  
  
/Error. Error. Computer error 910. Memory capacity overloading./  
  
Seth looked down at his Watch as he flew towards Mewtwo's island. "What?! What is causing the overload?!"  
  
/Two program files have begun reintegrating themselves in the main Construct./  
  
"What files?! Who's causing this!" Seth yelled.  
  
/Digimon files 'Bahamon' and 'Wizardmon' are attempting to integrate into one digital being so that they can have enough energy to cross the barrier into our existence. It will be a permanent Jogress digi-volution./  
  
"...Bahamon?" Seth said with watery eyes. "He's coming back? Man, now I understand how Ken felt when Wormmon came back."  
  
/The integration will be unsuccessful as long as the main Construct's data is diverted to the Delta 2 satellite. If the satellite projects the signal, they will be absorbed into the matrix and permanently rewritten./  
  
"Then we've got no time to waste! How long until they can leave the Construct?"  
  
/Approximately four hours until the necessary energy from the Construct can match that of the Primary Village Recycler./  
  
"What about the satellite?!"  
  
/Three hours, thirty minutes until the signal 'Rage' is activated./  
  
"No!! I've got to get to Mewtwo before it's too late." Seth said, pushing the limits of his Flight junction on his Watch as he zoomed over the ocean as fast as possible.  
  
****  
  
Ash grumbled as he scrubbed his face with all his might. Meanwhile, Tai, Matt, Davis, and TK couldn't stop laughing at the results of Ash's "torture". The warm bath water in the pool they used as a tub was doing little to get the make-up off Ash's face.  
  
"This is all your fault!" Ash yelled at Davis as the trainer washed his face more than he ever had before. "If you hadn't dared me to steal their stuff, I wouldn't smell like a dead skunk."  
  
"I believe they call it 'Odor le Barf'." laughed Tai.   
  
"Man, this stuff isn't coming off!" Ash yelled as he scrubbed furiously at his eyes. "This mascarra junk is really in there."  
  
"Oh, I think you look sexy 'Ashley'." laughed Davis. Ash started growling and would have tried to drown the younger leader of the digi-destined had the others not separated the two.  
  
"You got what you deserved Ash." Brock said from the other side of the bath pool. "It just goes to show you that he- or she- who laughs last, laughs best."  
  
"Whatever, Brock." said Ash. "I just know that I'm going to get those girls back for this!"  
  
"What are you going to do? Beat them at a beauty contest?" joked Matt. The laughter resumed once more, until Pikachu stuck his tail in the water and gave a shock to all the loud kids in the pool, followed by laughter from the pokemon and digimon outside the pool.  
  
****  
  
Cody silently read the book that he had borrowed from Mewtwo's library downstairs. Finding an interesting little book called 'Animal Farm', Cody decided to read it, thinking it would be a nice little children's book about farm life. He was wrong, much to his surprise.  
  
"Who would've thought they'd make a book about a communist farm of talking animals." Cody said, placing the book on the nearby table in the center of the bedroom. Feeling boredom start to creep in, Cody looked around for a stick so that he could practice his Kendo.  
  
"Cody?" said a sweet, innocent-sounding voice.  
  
Cody looked in the direction of the sound, and saw Yolei standing in the doorway. Walking in slowly, she looked around to find the room completely empty. "Where's Hawkmon and the others?"  
  
"They're all taking a bath. I took one last night before going to sleep, so I'm just sitting here right now." the little boy said.  
  
"Oh...then could you help me with something?" Yolei asked, smiling sheepishly and batting her eyes.  
  
"Uh....what do you want me to do?" Cody said, surprised at the way that Yolei was acting.   
  
Yolei sat down next to Cody, wrapping her arm around the little boy's shoulders and pulling his head towards her body. She patted his head and held him close when he tried to struggle out of her hug. "You know Cody, I've always known you were to smart one in the group."  
  
Cody looked at the wall across the room as she swayed back and forth with his head. "Well, um...that is why I have the crest of Knowledge, Yolei..."  
  
Yolei sighed. "Yeah, I know. You're also have the crest of Reliability, so I know I can count on you if I need to find out about something important, right?"  
  
Cody didn't like where this was going. "Um....right."  
  
"Well..." Yolei said, letting him go a little as she twirled a few strands of Cody's short hair around her fingers. "Would you be the kind, sweet, and smart little cutie pie that me and the girls know you are, and answer a really important question for us?"  
  
The eight-year-old groaned as he realized what the question was. "I can't tell you anything. The guys would kill me."  
  
"Oh, pleeeeeeeease?" said another voice. Misty sat down and ran her finger along Cody's chin, making the little boy smile. "We really want to know..."  
  
Kari kneeled down behind him, wrapping her arms around Cody from behind, and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Pretty please, Cody? With a cherry on top?"  
  
Cody was starting to feel like he was in a James Bond movie. "Well....I guess if you don't tell the guys that I told you."  
  
Yolei smiled. "You've got a deal!" she said as she, Kari, and Misty each kissed the little guy on the cheeks. Cody blushed furiously as they helped him stand and led him to towards the bedroom door to spill the beans on what the guys have been saying.  
  
Izzy walked out of the bathroom and toweled off his hair. Making sure his clothes weren't wet or stained, the boy headed towards the boys' room where Cody was hanging out by himself. As he was about to enter, the door opened with Cody walking out, surrounded by Kari, Misty, and Yolei- each rubbing the boy's hair, or holding his hand, and otherwise being much more friendly than Izzy would expect them to be.  
  
"Uh...hi Izzy." Cody said as they all passed, with him following their every move in one long stare. Cody and his 'harem' entered the girls' room a few doors down, leaving a very stunned Izzy staring at the door even after they closed it.  
  
"Now THAT'S the way the child of the Crest of Knowledge should be treated." Izzy said as he walked into the bedroom to finish drying his hair.  
  
****  
  
Mewtwo watched as the screen flashed with the current news broadcast from CHANNEL 45.  
  
/Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is with a heavy heart that I say, there is currently no signs of any pokemon left on our planet Earth. With the massive anomaly gone, scientists believe that the pokemon race is now classified as... 'extinct'./  
  
"What are you watching?" said Biyomon as she walked into the lab room where Mewtwo was sitting.   
  
/I repeat. As of 6:10 AM today, the species known collectively as pokemon have become extinct. Thus, immediate precautions are being taken to ensure the survival of the human race, however any conclusive procedures haven't been made as of yet. Please do not panic, and continue on with your normal routine. Thank you./  
  
The signal went off, and the screen was filled with static. Mewtwo deactivated the link to the TV stations, and stood up. The pokemon walked towards a nearby machine that connected to the main computer, and began to remove and replace parts of the machine. Biyomon walked up next to him and flew up to the top of the massive terminal, so that she would be sitting next to Mewtwo. The pokemon looked over at the little pink bird, who smiled when he did so. Mewtwo returned to his work while Biyomon watched.   
  
"You don't like to talk, do you." Biyomon stated rather than asked.  
  
"..."  
  
"Why won't you talk to me?" the digimon asked. "Is it because you don't like me or something?"  
  
"What is it that you want, Biyomon." Mewtwo said in an annoyed tone.   
  
Biyomon sighed sadly. "I just want to find out why Sora likes you." Mewtwo stopped his rummaging through the machine, and turned towards the little bird. "Oooh...touched a nerve, did I?" she said jokingly.  
  
Mewtwo glared at the little digimon. "Don't annoy me. I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Besides, I'm trying to get the amplifier to work, so that I can try to teleport all of us to the Digital World without the portal."  
  
"I know you're busy, but it won't hurt you to talk. You're always so sad...and I wonder why."  
  
"Sora knows the answer to that. She knows that it is a sadness I feel, and me alone."  
  
"But why? We can help you..."  
  
Mewtwo clenched his fist. "You can't help me. Unless you know how to turn back time, you can't help me." the angry pokemon returned to the machine, grunting in annoyance as the parts failed to meet the required specifications for what he needed.  
  
Biyomon stared at the pokemon, finding herself at a loss for words. The bird decided to remain silent, hoping that Mewtwo would talk on his own. She didn't have to wait too long.  
  
"I was built to destroy anything that got in the way of my master." Mewtwo said softly as he tampered with the machine. "Upon my awakening, the only memories I had were disjointed pieces of my life as Mew."  
  
"Mew?"   
  
"...an ancient, extremely rare pokemon that lives in the remote corners of the world, spending its time playing in the clouds and frolicking with the creatures of sea and sky. I am a clone of that creature."  
  
"A clone? You mean like a copy?"  
  
"...No. My basic DNA is Mew's, but the human scientists that created me spent years trying to find a perfect combination of cells that would create a pokemon with power unmatched by anything else in existence. That is me."  
  
Biyomon looked at him in awe. "So you're the strongest pokemon ever, then?"  
  
Mewtwo frowned at the machine, but mainly from the memories of his past. "They said I was. I wasn't so sure. I threatened the entire planet as I attempted to prove the superiority of not just me, but all clones that could be created with the same technology used on me. That was when I met Ash and his friends for the first time."  
  
"What?! You mean they know you from some other event?"  
  
"They don't remember that time. I erased the memories from their minds, to prevent anyone from following my clones and I to this new island. It was for their safety as much as ours."  
  
Biyomon nodded in understanding. "But what does this mean? Why are these memories so painful to you? Didn't Ash and his friends help you?"  
  
Mewtwo looked outside at the blue, cloudy skies. "They showed me my true purpose as a pokemon, but they didn't help my sadness...". The pokemon looked down at his three-fingered hands, and his eyes closed as a tear escaped his cold exterior, much to Biyomon's surprise. "I hate myself, more than any human I've ever met."  
  
"How can you say that?! Why would you hate yourself?!"  
  
"I'm a weapon, pure and simple. As long as I exist, I'll cause pain and suffering to those I meet."  
  
Biyomon jumped to her feet. "You're wrong, Mewtwo. You may be a super-clone, or whatever, but you're still that little, innocent, playful creature that flew through the clouds and played in the wind..." The digimon hopped onto Mewtwo's shoulder and held his head reassuringly. "So don't say that you hate yourself...please?"  
  
Mewtwo picked up Biyomon and put her back on the ground softly. "...I wish I could say yes...but I don't know what to say anymore. I need to be alone."  
  
"You've been alone for most of your life." Biyomon said. "I think the time for you to be alone is over." she said. The little digimon hopped towards the balcony that stretched her wings. Turning to Mewtwo, she said. "I'll help you remember what you really are. Let's go play...you and me."  
  
Mewtwo lifted an eyebrow suspiciously. "I don't have time to play."  
  
"Pleeeease? I promise not to bother you anymore if you play for just ten minutes." the little digimon said as she smiled. Mewtwo stood silently for several seconds, until finally he relented.   
  
"Very well. Just for ten minutes. Then you'll never bother me again." Mewtwo said, calling on his telekinetic powers to fly.  
  
"If you want. Now for ten minutes, you're mine!" she said, ramming into him with surprising speed. "You're it!" she said, dashing away at high speed.  
  
"Grr..." Mewtwo charged after Biyomon, who dashed through the massive fans that spun over the New Island lab. Her size and speed were enough to give Mewtwo a run for his money, but after a clever feint by Mewtwo, the pokemon managed to tag the little bird.  
  
"Rrr!..." she growled playfully. Biyomon charged after Mewtwo, who dashed along the beach of the island, making water spray everywhere as he skimmed the surface, with Biyomon in hot pursuit.  
  
[A FLASH OF MEMORY: Mew dashing over the water, giggling with childish glee just before flying towards the clouds above...]  
  
Mewtwo smiled and shot upwards, creating a small geyser of ocean water as he raced higher and higher towards the sun-filled skies. Biyomon laughed as Mewtwo did a loop-de-loop through a cloud, catching some of the white fluff along the way in his whiskers. Mewtwo sneezed as the cloud fluff tickled his nose, making him falter in his flight.   
  
"Gotcha!" cheered Biyomon, playfully smacking the pokemon. Biyomon laughed and dashed off as Mewtwo pursued her. Biyomon was amazed when she heard Mewtwo laughing with her. The two dashed through the clouds, oblivious to the rest of the world as their little game continued.  
  
[A FLASH OF MEMORY: Mew playing with a Pidgey. Mew flew backwards along the surface of the water, laughing as it teased the bird playfully with its tail, like a dancing worm...]  
  
"Catch me if you can!" Mewtwo laughed as he lay back as if he were floating on his back in a pool. He slowed enough that Biyomon could easily catch up, but kept her at arms length as he dashed along the ocean surface backwards. Waving his tail in front of the digimon, Biyomon playfully swiped at it, but each time she missed.   
  
"Now I know why I hate cats!" Biyomon said as she managed to lightly bite Mewtwo's tail. Mewtwo turned right-side up as the digimon raced off towards the island.   
  
[A FLASH OF MEMORY: Mew pouncing on the Pidgey and playfully wrestling with it as they roll into a nearby pile of leaves...]  
  
Mewtwo dashed ahead towards the island, where Biyomon was heading, but suddenly saw a black-clad person stop in front of him. Mewtwo quickly halted so as not to run into the last person he expected to see.  
  
"Seth?!"   
  
Seth nodded. "Mewtwo, we have a problem....and I need your help."  
  
****  
  
"Joe said THAT?!" shouted Kari.   
  
Cody nodded. "I promise."  
  
Mimi sat down to try and gather her thoughts. "Matt AND Joe?"  
  
"That's what they said." Cody said from his spot on the bed.  
  
"I can't believe Tai and Matt would be so mean!" Sora said with clenched fists. Mimi said nothing in response. Her face showed the deep thought she was in.  
  
"Well Cody, I'm glad you came to us about this." Yolei said. "We knew you'd be a nice boy." she said, hugging the little guy fiercely.  
  
"No problem...just let go so I can breathe." answered Cody.  
  
A loud knock on the door interrupted the chat. Cody and the girls gasped when they heard Tai's voice.   
  
"Uh oh! Quick, act casual!" whispered Yolei to the others.  
  
"Hey girls?" Tai said as he opened the door. "Biyomon says...". Tai didn't finish his sentence when he saw Cody sitting amongst all the girls. Sora and Mimi lay on the ground in front of him; Kari and Misty sat beside him, hugging him and playing with his hair, and finally Yolei sitting behind him with a string of grapes in her hand. Tai stared in total disbelief, with his jaw hanging open.   
  
"Um...what were you saying Tai?" Cody asked in his whisper of a voice.  
  
Tai slowly shook himself out of his shock. "Uh...oh yeah, Biyomon says to meet on the beach. Seth is asking Mewtwo for help, and he has come to the island."   
  
"Okay, we'll be there Tai." Kari said, tickling Cody's chin. "You ready Cody?"  
  
"Uh...yeah. After you." he said, bowing politely as the girls stood and headed out the door. Tai watched as they went past, but stopped Cody as he passed.  
  
"Hey Cody?"  
  
"Yeah Tai?" answered the boy.  
  
"Would you mind giving me some tips?" the older boy asked.  
  



	9. Final Battle

Seth landed on the shore of Mewtwo's island, along with the pokemon himself. Biyomon ran over to Mewtwo's side and stared evilly at Seth as the others ran to the shore. Seth stuck his gloved hands into his trenchcoat pockets and waited.  
  
Ash charged forward and swung his fist at Seth's face, knocking the author on his back. Ash would have done more had the others not restrained him and dragged him away from Seth as he stood. "That's for all that you've done, you jerk!" yelled the pokemon trainer, finally indicating to the others that he's calm.   
  
Seth rubbed the side of his jaw that was hit, but did nothing to retaliate. The author was surprised that a kid six years younger than him could pack such a wallop, but said nothing to indicate his feelings towards them.   
  
Mewtwo looked sternly at Seth. "Now, what are you doing here?" he said.  
  
"I'm giving up my experiment." Seth answered simply. "But the satellite and my program have malfunctioned. I can't stop the countdown on my own."  
  
Davis growled and lifted his fist in an obviously threatening manner. "So you're saying that you can't stop the digimon and pokemon from killing each other?!" Seth nodded, not showing any regret, which only seemed to anger them even more. "Aren't you even sorry?!"  
  
Seth looked at the ground. "As mean as it sounds...It's tough for me to feel sorry for you, because for most of my time as an author you've all been just imaginary characters."  
  
Blue flames shot up around Mewtwo as his telekinetic energies powered up to the maximum levels. "I'll show you an imaginary character..."   
  
"Mewtwo, don't!" shouted Sora as she and Biyomon got in between Mewtwo and Seth. When Sora slowly pushed his hand to the ground, Mewtwo dissisapated the energy forming in his hands. They continued the conversation. "So you intend to help us?"  
  
Seth nodded yet again. "I'll do what is needed. Then you all can do with me what you want."  
  
Veemon slapped his fist into his other hand. "Oh don't worry. We will." Biyomon gestured to Veemon to be silent, which he did.  
  
"If you can't stop the signal, then we'll have to destroy the satellite itself." said Mewtwo.  
  
"Good luck." Seth answered. "It's guarded by the four Legendary birds and the Mega-Gengar from Pokemonopolis."  
  
"What?!" everybody yelled.   
  
"Why would the pokemon guard it if you've given up?" Brock asked.  
  
"They are still under the effects of the original signal, even though it has been turned off." Seth replied. "Their territorial instincts are active...and they think the satellite is their property. They'll destroy anything that approaches it. Even now they're fighting over it amongst each other."  
  
"Then that gives us an advantage." Mewtwo said. "If we can get rid of them while they're weak, then the satellite will be defenseless."  
  
"Wait a minute." said Izzy. "Who owns the satellite? Won't they have defenses of some kind around it?"  
  
Seth shook his head no. "The satellite belongs to my masters. They aren't military or criminal in nature, so the satellite's only defenses are a cloaking field to hide it from view. All the satellite does is give us data on your world so that we can manipulate it."  
  
"Manipulate it?" said Sora.  
  
Seth nodded. "Yes. All the disasters and triumphs of your lives have been influenced by humans from my world, collectively known as 'Toei'. My masters and I don't have the direct power that they do, but we can use data to make our own stories and events occur. However, none of you will ever see them."  
  
"You mean to say that our world is run by something named Toei?" Yolei said.  
  
"This guy is just some nut! Don't believe him." Davis said.  
  
"Believe what you want." Seth said.  
  
"Let's stay on the subject." Mewtwo said. "The cloaking field around the satellite shouldn't be any problem. How long until your signal is unleashed in the Digital World?"   
  
"One hour." Seth answered.  
  
"Then let's hurry!" Tai shouted.  
  
"Good thing the Digimon Emporer isn't in the Digital World anymore. He'd love this." Cody grumbled.  
  
"So how are we going to get back home?" Biyomon asked.   
  
Seth brought out his Watch. "I'll save Mewtwo the trouble of trying to teleport us all there. I can make a small gate with this that we can all go through."  
  
"Can we use that to get all the pokemon back home?" asked Misty.  
  
Seth nodded. "Once the satellite stops malfunctioning, I can reopen the large wormhole and the pokemon can all return."  
  
"Then let's go, people!" Davis said. The others nodded in agreement.   
  
"Seth, for now, you're on our side." Mewtwo said. "But after this is over..."  
  
"I know." Seth answered as he activated his Watch.  
  
"What a depressing guy." Yolei muttered as the small blue gate materialized before them. The kids, the digimon, and the pokemon all entered the gate one-by-one, until finally it closed behind them.  
  
****  
  
A brilliant flash of light appeared in File Island as the group materialized in the Digital World. As the gate closed, Seth pointed to the sky directly above him.  
  
"The satellite is floating in the clouds just above here." he said.  
  
"You mean it's not in space?" Ash asked. Seth nodded, but didn't elaborate on why.  
  
Mewtwo floated into the air and slowly looked around the countryside from his vantage point. "The pokemon seem to be in hiding. At least the digimon aren't worried about them it seems."  
  
"After the Digimon Emporer's reign of terror, all the digimon are doing right now is rebuilding their homes." Cody said. "They don't want to fight at all."  
  
"Are you surprised?" Mewtwo said sarcastically to Seth. The black-clad author said nothing in response.  
  
"Okay guys, time to make a plan." Tai said. "We've got five BIG enemies, all pokemon, which means they have a lot of powers, and are very skilled at fighting."  
  
"They're protecting their property, so they won't have any fear." added Izzy.  
  
"That means they won't give up, or go easy on us." said Joe.  
  
"We know what the birds can do." said Matt. "What does the 'Mega-Gengar' do?"  
  
Ash pulled out his Pokedex. "Gengar."  
  
/Gengar. The Shadow Pokemon. Under a full moon, this Pokemon likes to mimic the shadows of people and laugh at their fright. It is strong against Psychic pokemon./  
  
"Well, I guess that means that Mewtwo shouldn't fight him if he has a choice in the matter." said Ash. "As big as this one is, even he would have trouble with the differences in type."  
  
"Mega-Gengar is intangible. Only your angels will have any effect on him." Seth said.   
  
"Oh yeah..." Ash said.   
  
"That changes things..." said Tai.  
  
"I will fight Mega-Gengar with them." Mewtwo said.  
  
"You cant!" Biyomon said.   
  
Mewtwo nodded. "All of your digimon put together will be needed to face the four birds. They have even more strength together than they do apart, so the power of all your digimon will be needed to defeat it."  
  
Sora ran up to Mewtwo. "But you three alone can't fight Mega-Gengar! You'll be..."  
  
Mewtwo covered her mouth with his oddly-shaped hand. Sora silenced, and Mewtwo let his hand fall. "If I can play tag with the fastest bird around, then I can avoid being hit by the creature." said Mewtwo. Biyomon smiled and started to get teary-eyed, and Sora looked up into Mewtwo's eyes, as if to imprint them in her mind.  
  
"Alright then..." Tai said, breaking up the moment akwardly. "Mewtwo, MagnaAngemon, and Angewomon will take on Mega-Gengar, while the digimon and Ash face the four birds. Since Ash is the only one with a flying pokemon that can carry him and fight at the same time, the others will have to sit this one out."  
  
"While you divert the attention of the pokemon, I'll try to deactivate the satellite." Seth said. Tai nodded, but gave him an angry glare as well.  
  
"Right!" said Tai. "Everyone agreed?" Everyone nodded in response.  
  
/Delta 2 will activate signal 'Rage' in fifty minutes./ said Seth's Watch.  
  
"Okay guys, time to digi-volve!" said Agumon. The energies of the digital evolution enveloped each of the digimon as they digivolved to their maximum levels. Soon, WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, Garudamon, Lillymon, Zudomon, MegaKabuterimon, MagnaAngemon, Angewomon, Flamedramon, Digmon, and Shurimon were ready for battle. Ash called out Charizard and leaped onto his back, while Pikachu leaped onto MetalGarurumon's back.  
  
"Good luck guys!" shouted Tai. "We'll be rooting for you!"   
  
Ash tipped his hat. "See ya soon, everyone."  
  
Yolei ran over and gave Ash a big kiss on the cheek. As he blushed, Yolei replied "I'll be waiting, hero." Misty burned with rage as Yolei walked back, but Misty managed to restrain herself...for the time being.  
  
Mewtwo stepped up to Ash. "Hold out your hand."  
  
Ash did so. "Uh...why?"  
  
Mewtwo placed five small, black empty pokeballs in his outstretched hand. The pokemon nodded. "You know what to do."  
  
Ash smiled and nodded. "Right."  
  
"Let's go." Mewtwo said, powering up his energies to their maximum levels. The flyers took the non-flyers and launched into the sky, ready to do battle with the fearsome opponents waiting for them at the satellite.  
  
"Good luck Mewtwo! Good luck Garudamon!" shouted Sora as they disappeared into the sky above. The others said good luck as well to their respective digimon, waving as they rose into the air.  
  
"...They'll need it."  
  
****  
  
Mega-Gengar spewed energy at Lugia, while Articuno shot a blast of Ice and Lugia unleashed a Hyper Beam in response to the attack. The energies met in mid-flight and exploded as they tried to blow past each other. Moltres and Zapdos dueled nearby, launching fire and lightning in all directions as they warred. Articuno and Lugia screeched in anger as they sensed the approach of several large creatures. Mega-Gengar, Moltres, and Zapdos looked to where they were looking, and took note of the approaching trespassers. Mega-Gengar and the Legendary birds roared with anger as the enemies breached the cloaking field of the satellite.  
  
As Seth landed quickly at the entrance to the satellite, the combatants spread out. Seth punched a command on his Watch, and started to hack into the system controls.  
  
"GATE OF DESTINY!" shouted MagnaAngemon, unleashing a blast of Holy light.  
  
"CELESTIAL ARROW!" yelled Angewomon, creating a magnificent arrow of energy that flew forward at Mega-Gengar.  
  
Both attacks rammed into the massive pokemon, causing it to stumble back in surprise. Anger showed in its ugly face, and the creature unleashed a massive blast of unholy power that slammed into the two digimon. Each slammed into the satellite painfully, creating dents from the force of the collisions.  
  
"Ouch..." MagnaAngemon said simply as he stood up on wobbly legs.  
  
"Look sharp, here he comes." Angewomon said quickly. The two angels powered up while Mewtwo unleashed a blast of pure telekinetic energy that slammed into the ghost pokemon, disrupting a little of its energy. The massive creature spit energy from its mouth at Mewtwo, which the pokemon easily avoided with a quick mid-air flip. However, Mega-Gengar was able to recover quickly, slamming a fist full of energy at Mewtwo, sending the pokemon tumbling to the satellite as well.  
  
"This doesn't look good." said Angewomon as Mega-Gengar loomed before them.  
  
****  
  
"TERRA FORCE!" shouted WarGreymon as he powered up his massive attack. The digimon's arms shot towards the sky, and between his massive claws formed a globe of incredible destructive energies.  
  
"FIRE ROCKET!" yelled Flamedramon as his body burst into intense flame. The armored digimon dashed straight at Articuno as WarGreymon unleashed his Mega-attack at the ice pokemon.   
  
Articuno slapped Flamedramon aside with its massive wings, and shot an Ice Beam straight at the digimon's chest, sending him flying into the direction of the Terra Force globe.   
  
"Look out, Flamedramon!" yelled Ash. "Charizard, grab him!" Charizard roared into action, zooming between the stunned Flamedramon and the massive Terra Force. With only inches to spare, the pokemon dashed out of the path of the massive attack as it collided with Articuno, who screeched in pain as the Fire-based attack slammed into it. The ice bird flew from the smoke with frightening speed, slamming into Ash and Charizard. Ash managed to hang on as the two flew uncontrollably.  
  
****  
  
Moltres screeched as it powered up its next attack. Fiery energy surrounded it as a Fire Spin attack zoomed ahead like a flying tornado.   
  
"Look out Lillymon!" shouted the slow digimon on the satellite, Zudomon.  
  
Lillymon tried to outrun the Fire Spin, but she wasn't quite fast enough, and the attack was slowly creeping closer.  
  
"Lillymon, get behind me!" shouted Zudomon. Lillymon obeyed, zooming behind the massive turtle-like digimon. Zudomon curled around her, and the massive Fire Spin impacted on the digimon's hard shell. The explosive energies rocked the satellite. As the smoke cleared, Zudomon unfolded himself and opened his hands where Lillymon was. Jumping into the air, Lillymon pulled out her deadly... (drum roll, please...) flower!  
  
"FLOWER CANNON!" shouted Lillymon as a powerful blast shot out at Moltres. The bird twisted its body to avoid the attack as it zoomed by. The ray barely touched Moltres' wing, and resulted in an explosion several hundred yards off course.   
  
"VULCAN'S HAMMER!" yelled Zudomon, slamming his massive hammer into the satellite to generate the energy of his attack. The vibrations flew forward into the air, missing Moltres again.   
  
"He must be doing that 'Agility' thing that Misty showed me with her pokemon." Zudomon said.  
  
"'Misty showed you'? What are you talking about, when did you two ever talk?"  
  
Zudomon smiled. "Let's just say I happened upon her and her pokemon while they were having a little swim on the beach. I'll tell you about it after we beat these guys."  
  
Lillymon dived to avoid a blast of fire from Moltres. "I'm amazed at your optimism!"  
  
****  
  
"Digmon, double team!" shouted Shurimon.   
  
"Right! Gold Rush!" shouted the digimon as it unleashed shards of flying metal at Zapdos.  
  
"Double Star!" yelled Shurimon, unleashing his ninja stars in conjunction. The two attacks raced towards Zapdos, who seemingly surged with light as some kind of barrier formed around him. The two attacks slammed into the Light Screen, while Zapdos launched its Thunder attack at the flying Shurimon.  
  
"Agghh!" cried the digimon as electricity crackled through its leafy body, causing him to smoke with heat.   
  
"Shurimon!" yelled Digmon as he ran over to where Shurimon fell on the satellite. "You okay?!"  
  
"Urghhh....yeah, I'll make it. Watch your back!" yelled Shurimon as the two leaped out of the path of a Thunder Shock from Zapdos. Zapdos swung around for another fly-by, giving the digimon some time to prepare.  
  
"Gold Rush!"  
  
"Double Star!"  
  
The two attacks sliced into Zapdos' feathered body, causing the bird to zoom a bit off course, and crash into a solar panel of the satellite. Zapdos shook the cobwebs out of its head and worked on freeing itself from the tangled metal that was left.  
  
****  
  
"Heads up!" shouted Pikachu as Lugia tilted its head back as it powered up for a Hyper Beam attack.   
  
"WING BLADE!" shouted Garudamon as a massive flaming bird flew up from its body. The attack swooped down towards Lugia, who shot the powerful Hyper Beam forward. The attacks exploded as they met, but the Hyper Beam continued through, slamming into MegaKabuterimon. The massive insect digimon fell back, but wasn't harmed seriously.  
  
"THORNBUSTER!" yelled MegaKabuterimon. The attack slammed into Lugia, who rammed into the satellite and skidded along the surface.   
  
"METAL WOLF CLAW!" called out MetalGarurumon, launching the attack straight at Lugia. The legendary bird of the sea screeched and created a field of energy around it, which reflected the attack right back at the digimon. MetalGarurumon ducked as the wave of energy zoomed by. Lugia swooped at MetalGarurumon's face and tackled the digimon, causing them to roll down the side of the satellite as they bit and slapped at each other on the way down.  
  
****  
  
Seth heard the sound of something big rolling down the side of the satellite, and calmly ducked as MetalGarurumon and Lugia shot just over his head. The author carefully examined the wiring inside the dish responsible for recieving transmissions and looked for the ones that had to be cut to stop the countdown procedures.  
  
"Computer, how long until signal upload is finished?"  
  
/The signal 'Rage' will be fully uploaded and released in forty minutes./  
  
{Plenty of time when it comes to cutting wires}, Seth thought, {but that wouldn't mean anything if the others failed to stop the pokemon. One shot from them and I'm toast.}  
  
{Seth, how long until you can stop the signal?} said Mewtwo telepathically as he shot a wave of energy at Mega-Gengar, causing the giant to stumble and temporarily leave itself open to attack from the two angels.  
  
{About five minutes.}, answered Seth mentally.  
  
{...Hurry up...}, replied Mewtwo as it blocked a Confusion Ray intended for Angewomon.  
  
MagnaAngemon swung his massive sword Excalibur, slashing repeatedly into the darkness that encompassed Mega-Gengar's body. The blackness seemed to reform almost as quickly as it was chopped away, but it did some damage to the massive ghost pokemon.   
  
"Look out!" shouted Ash as Articuno came crashing towards their part of the battlefield. As the massive bird slammed to the ground, Flamedramon, Charizard, and WarGreymon shot fireballs at the ice pokemon, weakening it even more. Articuno bounced along the hull as shot after shot hit it.  
  
"Now I've gotcha!" shouted Ash, throwing a black pokeball directly at Articuno. The ball sailed through the air, slamming into the bird and causing it to shrink into the device. After a short period of wabbling, the pokeball went silent and returned to Ash's hand as he sailed by.   
  
"Yeah!" he cheered. "One down, four to go!" he yelled as their team sailed off to assist Digmon and Shurimon.  
  
****  
  
"Zudomon, no!" shouted Lillymon as Moltres clamped onto the shell of the massive digimon. Unable to grab or hit the bird when it was sitting on his back, Zudomon was completely defenseless against Moltres' fiery attack. The digimon screamed in pain as the last of his energy left his body, making him revert to Gomamon.   
  
"Gomamon, run!" shouted Lillymon, but it was too late. Moltres stomped on Gomamon, trapping the little aquatic digimon underneath the bird's massive talons.  
  
"Uh...I'm it. Your turn to run?" Gomamon said hopefully. Moltres began to charge up for a fire breath that would roast the little digimon like paper.  
  
"FLOWER CANNON!"   
  
Moltres fell backwards from the sheer force of the blow, and literally tore through the hull of the satellite. Gomamon looked in awe at the massive hole in the side of the satellite as Lillymon flew down and picked up the little critter.  
  
"Are you okay?!" she said quickly, holding him tight as she flew to the ground to where he would be safe.  
  
"...yeah, thanks to you." Gomamon said, blinking his eyes weakly. Lillymon smiled and ruffled his little red mohawk as she reached the ground. Placing him carefully on the ground, she dashed back into the air to return to the battle.   
  
"Lillymon...be careful." he whispered as the kids ran up to where he lay.  
  
****  
  
"Okay, we got Articuno, Lugia, and Moltres...ready for Zapdos?" shouted Ash from Charizard's back as he put the third filled pokeball away.  
  
"I don't know, but we've got trouble." said Flamedramon as he looked over at WarGreymon. "The mega-digimon are starting to revert to their in-training levels. They're exhausted."  
  
"Go ahead and take a breather!" Ash yelled. "You and MetalGarurumon deserve it. With only two left against the rest of us, there shouldn't be any trouble."  
  
WarGreymon nodded and yelled the news to MetalGarurumon, who smiled happily to get a chance to rest. The two digimon flew towards the surface, reverting to Koromon and Tsunimon as they landed in Tai and Matt's arms.   
  
Flamedramon wiped some sweat off his metallic frame. "Okay Ash, let's meet up with Digmon and Shurimon. They can't hold off Zapdos anymore." said the digimon, pointing down to where the two digimon were reverting to Armadillomon and Hawkmon.  
  
"Charizard, Tackle attack!" shouted Ash. The pokemon shot through the sky, slamming his head into the powerful Zapdos. The bird stumbled back a few feet, but was otherwise unharmed.   
  
"FIRE ROCKET!" shouted Flamedramon as he sped towards the legendary bird. As the fiery aura surrounded his body, Zapdos turned on his Agility and shot into the sky.   
  
"Oh no you don't..." said Flamedramon, zipping right after him, like a literal rocket. Bird and digimon rebounded through the sky like living pinballs as each tried to hit the other without getting hit, but both were moving at near sonic speeds. Finally, after a tricky maneuver performed by Zapdos, the bird managed to land a Thunder attack on Flamedramon, who was shocked right into Garudamon's arms as Veemon.  
  
"No, Veemon!" shouted Ash. The boy growled and pulled one of the black pokeballs that were still empty. "Garudamon, hit him!"  
  
"No, I was going to ask him for the time..." the bird said sarcastically. Carefully holding Veemon, the massive bird launched a Wing Blade at the electric pokemon, which was easily avoided with Agility.   
  
"He's too fast!" Ash said.   
  
"THORNBUSTER!" shouted MegaKabuterimon. "Quick, while his attention is on me!"  
  
"Right! Charizard, use Fire Spin!"  
  
"WING BLADE!"   
  
The bird was able to avoid MegaKabuterimon's attack, but the other two attacks slammed into the pokemon, sending it falling towards the Earth. Ash threw his third black pokeball, which hit Zapdos in the back. The bird dematerialized and entered the pokeball, which sealed and flew back up to Ash's waiting hand.   
  
"That's four!" yelled Ash. "Let's get to Mewtwo and the angels, and then Mega-Gengar won't have a prayer!"   
  
****  
  
Mewtwo slid back as the force of Mega-Gengar's blast hit the Barrier that he had generated mentally. The two angels shot their attacks Gate of Destiny and Celestial Arrow at the beast, making it cry out in pain as the wounds it was sustaining started to catch up with him.  
  
"Take this!" shouted Mewtwo as he launched a small but deadly bubble of power at Mega-Gengar. The globe exploded in Mega-Gengar's face, and the pokemon fell on its back.   
  
"Ash! Capture it, now!" yelled Mewtwo. Ash and Charizard swept by and zoomed towards the motionless pokemon.  
  
"Pokeball, go-" Ash yelled, but he never got a chance to throw the ball. Mega-Gengar's eyes glowed red as it stared into the human's eyes. Ash blinked several times, but found himself slowly losing control...  
  
"No, it was a trick!" shouted MagneAngemon.  
  
"He's using Hypnosis on Ash and Charizard!" Mewtwo yelled.   
  
"No! Ash has the four birds!", yelled Angewomon. She charged at Ash in an attempt to get him, but Mega-Gengar shot a powerful ray of energy at the digimon, sending her falling onto Mewtwo as Gatomon. The Mega-Gengar laughed a deep, evil laugh as Ash turned around on Charizard's back with a blank look on his face.  
  
"Ash, wake up!" shouted MagnaAngemon as he slashed at Mega-Gengar. The giant pokemon hit the angel with a point blank blast of energy, making him de-digivolve into Patomon.   
  
Mewtwo growled in pain. "Is there anyone left who is still digivolved?!"  
  
"Lillymon, Garudamon and MegaKabuterimon are the only ones left, but they can barely fly, let alone fight." answered Veemon as said-digimon landed behind Mewtwo.   
  
Mewtwo handed Gatomon's limp body to Veemon. "Take her and Patomon back to the surface with Lillymon. Lillymon, protect the kids in case Mega-Gengar gets past us and goes down there. Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon and I will protect Seth."  
  
Veemon quickly grabbed Patomon, nodded and leaped into Lillymon's waiting arms. The digimon dashed down through the sky as Mewtwo and the two Ultimate-level digimon landed next to where Seth was feverishly flipping through wires.  
  
"One last circuit, but the colors are screwed up. Give me a minute." Seth said.  
  
"You may not have that long." Garudamon said as the four birds appeared in formation before Ash.   
  
"Keep trying, but hurry!" shouted Mewtwo just before getting slammed in the back by a blast of energy from Mega-Gengar.   
  
"Mewtwo, NOOOO!" shouted Garudamon, but there was no answer as the motionless Mewtwo fell through the air. Mega-Gengar ordered the four legendary birds to handle the two Ultimates, with Ash and Charizard leading the way, while Mega-Gengar flew through the air to consume whatever energy was left within Mewtwo.  
  
"WING BLADE!"   
  
"THORNBUSTER!"   
  
The two attacks raced through the air, but both were dodged by the birds with their Agility.  
  
"They're too fast!" said MegaKabuterimon.  
  
Lugia and the three birds unleashed their most powerful attacks at the two digimon, which the Ultimate-level digimon managed to block, but not without sustaining heavy damage.  
  
"I got it, let's go." he said.  
  
"Go?! Go where?!" said MegaKabuterimon weakly as the four birds pursued them.  
  
****  
  
ERROR 404  
THE SITE "www.fanfiction.net" IS DOWN  
PLEASE TRY AGAIN  
  
****  
  
[A FLASH OF MEMORY: Mewtwo crying alone on the gym floor, and Sora trying to comfort him...]  
  
Mewtwo weakly opened his eyes. "I...can't die..."  
  
[Mewtwo defending Sora and Garudamon from Neuromon...]  
  
"I have to save...the two worlds..."  
  
[Sora hugging Mewtwo in thanks...]  
  
"No...forget the worlds..."  
  
[Mewtwo and Biyomon talking about his pain...]  
  
"I...have to save...Sora. Must...save..."  
  
[Mewtwo and Biyomon, playing tag, and bringing back Mewtwo's happy memories...]  
  
"Biyomon!"   
  
****  
  
Mewtwo's eyes snapped open, and the pokemon found himself falling head first towards the Earth. Quickly the pokemon burst into blue flame as he activated his telekinesis abilities.   
  
Mega-Gengar laughed evilly and spoke to Mewtwo, knowing that the pokemon can understand him. "YOU WEAK...YOU DIE NOW..."  
  
Mewtwo clenched his fist, and began to glow with an eerie blue light that almost blinded the ghost pokemon. Mega-Gengar screamed in anger at seeing this display of power.   
  
"IMPOSSIBLE! YOU NO POKEMON!"  
  
Mewtwo glared at Mega-Gengar through blue eyes. "You're right. I'm not a pokemon." he said, shooting a swarm of small psychic globes at Mega-Gengar. The massive attack struck Mega-Gengar square in the "chest", and the black ghost creature fell like a comet in the sky, crashing into the surface below.  
  
"I'm something else." said Mewtwo as he shot up towards the satellite.   
  
****  
  
Seth carried Biyomon and Tentomon as he flew with his Watch. The two had taken too many hits, and now Seth had to carry their weakened bodies as he raced to safety, with the four birds in hot pursuit. Although Seth could fly, he had no skill at air combat, so all he could do was pray that modern technology was faster than a pokemon.  
  
"Duck!" shouted Tentomon as a blast of fire from the hypnotized Charizard approached. Seth obeyed, diving straight down as the birds chased him and shot their attacks at him.  
  
"I can open the wormhole, but I can't dodge at the same time." said the author.  
  
"Then we're in deep trouble!" said Tentomon.   
  
"In more ways than one. Look!" shouted Biyomon. Seth halted as Moltres hovered in front of him. The other three birds surrounded them, trapping the three between them in a rough box shape.   
  
Seth looked left and right as the birds powered up for their special attacks. "Sorry about all this..." Seth said to Biyomon and Tentomon.   
  
"Goodbye...Sora." Biyomon whispered.  
  
"Goodbye, Izzy!" screamed Tentomon as he grabbed Seth's head and held it for dear life, while Seth tried to yank off the digimon.  
  
{Don't worry, Biyomon...I'm still with you...}, said a voice in Biyomon's mind.  
  
"...Mewtwo?" whispered Biyomon hopefully as the Legendary birds opened their mouths wide to unleash...nothing?  
  
Tentomon looked left and right with confusion. "What happened?"  
  
"Their powers have been Disabled!"  
  
"Get away from them!" shouted Mewtwo as he zipped into the center of the birds with Seth and the two digimon.   
  
In a split second, Mewtwo's arms shot up as he screamed "LEAVE THEM ALONE!!". Immense waves of power left both his hands, slamming into the birds to the left and right of the group. The Legendary Birds, with their powers disabled, could not dodge fast enough, and couldn't block it with their powers. The birds' bodies were catapulted to the ground at a frightening speed, that ended with the birds slamming to the ground. Mewtwo's arms fell to his side, and the pokemon would have fallen to Earth had Seth not caught him.  
  
"Mewtwo!!" screamed Biyomon, rushing to the pokemon. Mewtwo weakly caught her, and Biyomon started to cry happily, much to Mewtwo's surprise. "I....I thought you had died...and....and..." Mewtwo held her reassuringly, but said nothing.   
  
"Ughh...where am I?..." said Ash as he and Charizard hovered down to where they floated. "What happened?"  
  
"...It's over." Seth said.  
  
****  
  
"See ya guys later." said Ash. Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock waved one last time before going through the gate to their home. With all the pokemon already on the other side, Mewtwo was the last one that had to go.  
  
Sora walked up to Mewtwo and slowly wrapped her arms around him. Rather than stand akwardly as she embraced him like last time, Mewtwo answered her hug with his own. Sora smiled, rubbed her wet eyes in his warm cat fur, and gave one last squeeze as she let go.  
  
"...I'll miss your 'cheery disposition', Mewtwo." Sora joked.  
  
Mewtwo smiled. "I should thank you...and Biyomon."   
  
Sora looked around. "Hey, where is Biyomon? She hasn't said good-bye."  
  
"I didn't see her leave." Palmon said.   
  
"...I'll go find her." Mewtwo said. "I'm a telepath, so it shouldn't take too long." Mewtwo flew off, scanning the area for their Biyomon's thoughts.  
  
After a few moments of searching, Mewtwo found her at a nearby lake in the forest area. Mewtwo landed on the shore where she was quietly staring into the lake, watching the fish go by. Mewtwo quietly stood next to the shore, folding his arms and staring down into the lake. For a long time, nothing was said.   
  
"Why do you have to leave?" Biyomon said finally.   
  
Mewtwo looked at the little pink bird. "I don't belong here."  
  
"Yes you do!" she said, looking up at him angrily through tear-filled eyes. "If you go back, you'll just hide from the world again, and you'll be sad again..."  
  
"I'm a pokemon. I'm supposed to be in my world. You're a digimon. You have to be in your world."  
  
Biyomon grabbed Mewtwo fiercely. "Please don't go..."  
  
Mewtwo held Biyomon comfortingly for a while as she cried silently. Mewtwo floated silently into the air and slowly made his way back to the others. They watched the pokemon land gracefully, and he carefully handed Biyomon to Sora.  
  
"Mewtwo..." Biyomon said, trying to get out of Sora's arms. "Don't..."   
  
Mewtwo backed away, closing his eyes as he began to weep as well. "Goodbye, Biyomon..."  
  
Seth frowned at the sight of all the sad faces before him. As he and Mewtwo entered the closing gate, he vowed to not let it end this way.  
  
****  
  
-----------------------  
December 25th, 2000  
The Digital World  
-----------------------  
  
"Who's idea was this, anyway?" Tentomon said. "I don't want all of you messing up my tree!" the digimon said.  
  
"Oh chill out Tentomon." Veemon replied. "Your tree looks cool now."  
  
"Yeah, I guess...but I can't sleep in a Christmas Tree!" said Tentomon.   
  
"After we open presents, you can take off anything that gets in the way of your precious tree." Palmon said. "Geez..."  
  
"Okay, everybody dig in!" yelled Agumon. The digimon dived into the pile of presents and started to unwrap their gifts.  
  
"'To Gatomon, From Kari.' Hmm, I wonder what it is." said Gatomon. Veemon looked over as Gatomon pulled out a big ball of yarn. Gatomon's eyes went wide and she rolled over with glee as she fiddled with a string that dangled from the ball.   
  
Veemon laughed and looked at his own gift that Davis had gotten him. Ripping open the wrapping paper, Veemon found a book called 'Dancing for Dummies'. "Alright! I didn't think he'd get it!"   
  
"What's that?" Gatomon asked as she chased the ball past Veemon.   
  
Veemon quickly hid the book from her. "Uh...nothing, nothing."  
  
After playing the harmonica that Matt had gotten him as his gift, Gabumon looked around to see if any presents were left under the tree. Only one remained...Biyomon's present. Since she wasn't coming to their little party, Gabumon decided to bring her the present instead.   
  
****  
  
"Biyomon?" called Gabumon as he ran to the tree in the forest where she lived in the Digital World. Climbing up the large oak, Gabumon found Biyomon munching on an apple and laying under the snow-covered leaves.  
  
"Hey Biyomon, aren't you going to come to our Christmas party?"  
  
Biyomon slowly shook her head no. "No thanks, I don't feel like partying right now."  
  
"Fine by me." said Gabumon. The furry digimon sat on the limb next to Biyomon and started to play the harmonica he got from Matt.   
  
Biyomon eventually looked over at him. "Are you trying to annoy me into going to the party?"  
  
Gabumon stopped playing. "No. I'm just trying to keep you from being lonely. Nobody should be alone on Christmas day."  
  
"I can think of someone who is..." Biyomon said, trailing off.  
  
Gabumon put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry that you miss him, but he belongs in his world. At least feel lucky that they he didn't erase our memories or anything."  
  
Biyomon sighed. "At least then I wouldn't feel so bad."  
  
Gabumon looked down at the snow, wondering what Matt would do in a situation like this. Finally, the digimon held the gift out to Biyomon, who looked at it with a confused expression.   
  
"What's that?" she asked.  
  
"Sora's gift to you, isn't it?"  
  
"No, Sora gave me her gift earlier." she answered. Standing up, Biyomon looked at the gift curiously. "Who's it from?"  
  
"The tag says...'Best Wishes- Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu.'?!"  
  
Biyomon stared for a long time at the gift. "If this is a joke, I'm not laughing."  
  
"None of us did it..." Gabumon said. "Maybe it's the real deal."  
  
"Only one way to find out." she answered as she tore open the wrapping paper. Underneath was a simple box that opened on top. Biyomon opened up the top, and instantly she went into shock.  
  
"What is it?" Gabumon said. Biyomon coudn't answer, so instead she pulled the object out. In her hand she held a small, red and black pokeball.  
  
"Now what?" said Gabumon. "Maybe you open it?"  
  
Biyomon nodded, remembering how Ash brought out his pokemon. "Go!" she said as she threw the ball into the air. The ball opened with a burst of energy, and before her materialized a tall, cat-like creature.   
  
"I don't believe it!" yelled Gabumon, accidently falling off the trunk and landing in a deep pile of snow.  
  
Biyomon went hysterical and tackled the pokemon into the snow. "Mewtwo?!!" she cried as she crushed him in a fearsome hug. "How...wha....H-how did you get here?!" she exclaimed.  
  
Mewtwo smiled. "Let's just say that Seth wanted to add a few things to his 'fic', so he helped Ash and his friends "capture" me as a present for you." Biyomon laughed and cried at the same time, and couldn't find the words to discribe what she was feeling. Luckily, Mewtwo was a telepath...he didn't need words.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Biyomon." said Mewtwo. The pokemon softly rubbed his nose on hers- the way cats do when they 'kiss'.   
  
"...Merry Christmas, Mewtwo." answered Biyomon softly.   
  
Gabumon crawled out of the snowpile and shook off the snow in his fur. The digimon quietly approached and cleared his throat to get their attention. "Um, should I tell the others that you're here?"  
  
Mewtwo nodded. "Ask them if they want to play a 'tag'...". The pokemon stood and tapped Biyomon on the beak. "...you're it!"  
  
"Come back here you!" she laughed as she leaped into the sky. Mewtwo flew high into the sky, with Biyomon flying after him, laughing and smiling.   
  
****  
  
....and they enjoyed a beautiful Christmas day with their friends in the Digital World. But that, is another story. =)  
  



End file.
